


The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor

by BBCGirl657



Series: The Littlest Timelord [2]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 06, Timelord Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 65,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBCGirl657/pseuds/BBCGirl657
Summary: The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret, because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone?
Relationships: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, Eleventh Doctor/River Song
Series: The Littlest Timelord [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695061
Comments: 19
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first chapter of The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor! I’m already looking forward to this book so much! There will ups and downs and Elise will finally grow into herself and find her voice.

The TARDIS was drifting when a distress signal started going off.

Elise dropped her sketchbook and ran for the console. “Daddy!” she yelled.

The Doctor came running into the control room and grabbed the monitor. “Hold on…that’s the ship we left Amy and Rory on.” He directed Elise to a set of controls. “These are going to flash in a particular order and you need to press them exactly a second after they flash, okay?”

Elise nodded as the Doctor typed something in.

Come along Pond.

“Something’s controlling the storm…” The Doctor did a few more calculations and the TARDIS locked on. “Got it. Elise, now!”

Elise started pressing the buttons as the Doctor flew around the console.

The TARDIS landed on a roof and they stepped out.

The Doctor saw a chimney and jumped in before Elise could stop him.

She groaned and rolled her eyes before following after him. She landed next to him and he stumbled out of the chimney. “Graceful,” Elise muttered, brushing herself off. They were both covered in soot and Elise briefly wondered if it would come out of her clothes. They’d been a gift from River.

“Ah. Yes. Blimey. Sorry. Christmas Eve on a rooftop. Saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, what the hell.” The Doctor approached the family in the room. “Don’t worry, fat fellow will be doing the rounds later. I’m just scoping out the general chimney-ness.” He walked over to the chimney and leaned against it with his hand.

Elise wondered how long it would take him to realize it was still hot.

“Yes. Nice size, good traction.” The Doctor yanked his hand off. “Big take.”

“Fat fellow?” the boy asked.

“Father Christmas, Santa Claus or, as I’ve always known him, Jeff.”

“There’s no such person as Father Christmas.”

“Oh, yeah?” The Doctor pulled out an old photograph. “Me and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra’s hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde? Albert Einstein. The three of us together. Keep the faith. Stay off the naughty list.”

Elise hadn’t gone on that trip. He’d dropped her off with River and they spent the day together. That’s actually when Elise had gotten the clothes she was wearing.

The Doctor ran over to what looked like an organ. “Ooo. Now, what’s this then? I love this. A big flashy lighty thing. That’s what brought me here. Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time, and a crayon. Now, this big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah? And it controls the sky. Well, technically it controls the clouds, which technically aren’t clouds at all. Well, they’re clouds of tiny particles of ice. Ice clouds. Love that. Who’s she?” The Doctor turned and pointed at the young woman frozen in the ice.

She was blonde and pretty. She reminded Elise of a princess.

“Nobody important,” the old man in the room said.

“Nobody important! Blimey, that’s amazing. Do you know, in nine hundred years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before.” The Doctor ran back over to the organ looking contraption. “Now, this console is the key to saving that ship, or I’ll eat my hat. If I had a hat. I’ll eat someone’s hat. Not someone who’s using their hat. I don’t want to shock a nun, or something. Sorry, rambling, because, because this isn’t working!”

“The controls are isomorphic. One to one. They respond only to me,” the man said.

“Oh, you fibber. Isomorphic. There’s no such thing.”

The man reached over the Doctor and turned the contraption off and on again.

The Doctor tried the same thing, but nothing happened. He even tried sonicing the contraption. “These controls are isomorphic,” he said.

“The skies of this entire world are mine. My family tamed them, and now I own them.”

“Tamed the sky? What does that mean?”

“It means I’m Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?”

“Well, just easily bored, I suppose. So, my daughter and I need your help, then.”

“Make an appointment.”

“There are four thousand and three people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt. Without your help, they’re going to die.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to let that happen.”

“I know, but I’m going to. Bye, bye. Bored now. Chuck!”

The servants grabbed the family, Elise, and the Doctor, but the Doctor managed to get free and walked over to Sardick who was sitting in a leather armchair by the fireplace.

“Ooo, look at you, looking all tough now.”

“There are four thousand and three people I won’t allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?”

“Where?”

“Four thousand and four.”

“Was that a sort of threat-y thing?”

“Whatever happens tonight, remember you brought it on yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, right. Get him out of here. And next time, try and find me some funny poor people.”

The boy in the family picked up a piece of coal and chucked it at Sardick.

It hit him in the head. Sardick got up and ran over to him with his hand raised.

In that moment, Elise’s knees hit the floor with her head down.

“No, stop, don’t!” the Doctor yelled.

“Don’t you dare. You leave him!” his father yelled.

“Get him out of here. Get that foul-smelling family out of here. Out!” Sardick ordered.

“We’re going!” the boy told him.

The servants let go of Elise and she collapsed to the floor in tears of relief.

The Doctor picked her up and cradled her to his chest, stroking her hair.

“What? What do you want?” Sardick asked the Doctor.

“A simple life. But you didn’t hit the boy.”

“Well, I will next time.”

“You see, you won’t. Now why? What am I missing?”

“Get out. Get out of this house.”

The Doctor looked around the room. “The chairs. Of course, the chairs. Stupid me, the chairs.”

“The chairs?”

“There’s a portrait on the wall behind me. Looks like you, but it’s too old, so it’s your father. All the chairs are angled away from it. Daddy’s been dead for twenty years, but you still can’t get comfortable where he can see you. There’s a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve. You’re scared of him, and you’re scared of being like him, and good for you, you’re not like him, not really. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you didn’t hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mister Sardick.”

“I despise Christmas.”

“You shouldn’t. It’s very you.”

“It’s what? What do you mean?”

“Halfway out of the dark.”

The Doctor and Elise left and he carried her outside and set her down.

She wasn’t crying anymore, but she was continuously wiping at her face.

The Doctor took her frantic hands in his as he knelt in front of her. “Your father hit you didn’t he?” the Doctor asked her gently.

Elise’s watery blue eyes met his. “Only when I tried to help mama.”

It explained why she was terrified whenever he lost his temper.

“I would never hit you. I hope you know that.”

Elise smiled and nodded.

“C’mere.”

Elise threw her arms around his neck and the Doctor placed a couple of kisses in her hair. When Elise had calmed down, he stood up and pull out an odd looking phone. Elise assumed it was to talk to Amy.

“Yes, I do. Yes, I am. Okay. The good news. I’ve tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. I could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily. But I can’t control the machine. But I’ve met a man who can. And he hates me. Yeah. How did you know?”

The father of the family called out to the Doctor. “Sir? Sir.”

“Hang on,” the Doctor told Amy.

“I’ve never seen anybody stand up to Mister Sardick like that. Bless you, sir, and merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas. Lovely. Sorry, bit busy.”

“You’d better get inside, sir. The fog’s thick tonight, and there’s a fish warning.”

“All right, yeah. Sorry, fish?”

“Yeah. You know what they’re like when they get a bit hungry.”

“Yeah, fish, I know fish. Fish?”

“It’s all Mister Sardick’s fault, I reckon. He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he’s in a bad mood. Thank you. Bless you once again, sir.”

“Fish?”

Elise looked around and saw small fish swimming around the street lamp. “Daddy,” she said.

The Doctor looked at where she was pointing. “Fish. Fish that can swim in fog. I love new planets.”

A few fish swam down to the Doctor and Elise and nibbled on their fingers.

Elise smiled and laughed, sharing the Doctor’s sentiment about new planets.

“Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellows? Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies. Mind you, fish in the fog, so the cloud cover. Ooo. Careful up there. I know.”

The speakers below the street lamp started playing “Ding Dong Merrily on High”.

“Oh, just give me a minute.” The Doctor started pacing. “Can’t use the TARDIS, because it can’t lock on. So, that ship needs to land. But it can’t land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice just in time for Christmas Day.” The idea hit the Doctor. “A Christmas carol.”

“What?” Elise asked him.

“A Christmas carol. A Christmas Carol! Kazran Sardick. Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick.” He hung up the phone and took Elise’s hand.

“What’s a Christmas Carol?” Elise asked him.

“It’s a book. I’ll read it to you tonight, but right now we need to deal with a Mr. Kazran Sardick.”


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor and Elise snuck back into Sardick’s house, where the Doctor put his plan in motion.

A younger Kazran was sitting in front of a camera. “Hello, my name is Kazran Sardick. I’m twelve and a half, and this is my bedroom. This is my top secret special project. For my eyes only. Merry Christmas.”

An older man burst into the room. “Kazran! Kazran! Kazran, what are you doing? What are you doing? I’ve warned you before about this, you stupid, ignorant, ridiculous child.”

“I was just going to make a film of the fish.”

“Fish are dangerous.”

“I just want to see them.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re far too young.”

“Everyone at school’s seen the fish.”

“That’s enough. You’ll be singing to them next, like gypsies.”

“The singing works. I’ve seen it. The fish like the singing.”

“What does it matter what fish like?”

“People say we don’t have to be afraid of the fish. They’re not really interested in us.”

“You don’t listen to people. You listen to me.” Kazran’s father backhanded him.

“Ow! I’m sorry, Father.”

“This is my house. While you’re under my roof, you’ll obey my instructions. I don’t care what you…”

The Doctor approached Sardick and touched him on the shoulder.

Sardick jumped and turned around.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the Doctor told him.

“What have you done? What is this?”

“Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality. Had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip.” The Doctor sat down in his chair and started reading a newspaper from Sardick’s side table.

For a second, Elise imagined the Doctor as her father. Her real father.

She pictured him sitting in the living room waiting for her to get home from school, reading the newspaper or a book. When he saw her, he would rush towards her and scoop her up in his arms. He’d kiss her cheeks and ask her how her day at school was. He would then carry her into the kitchen where River would be waiting with a snack. He’d help her with her homework before letting her go play before dinner.

Elise was snapped out of her fantasy by the Doctor speaking.

“Oh, I wouldn’t bother calling your servants. They quit. Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time, which is a bit lucky when you think about it,” he told Sardick.

“There isn’t a lottery.”

“Yeah, as I say, lucky.”

“Who are you?” Sardick asked.

“Tonight, we’re the Ghosts of Christmas Past. Did you ever get to see a fish, back then, when you were a kid?”

“What does that matter to you?”

“Look how it mattered to you.”

“I cried all night, and I learned life’s most invaluable lesson.”

“Ah. Which is?”

“Nobody comes. Get out! Get out of my house!”

“Okay. Okay, but we’ll be back. Way back. Way, way back.”

The Doctor and Elise left and entered the TARDIS. They landed outside young Kazran’s window and climbed inside.

“See? Back.”

“Who are you?” Kazran asked.

“Hi. I’m the Doctor. I’m your new babysitter. This is my daughter Elise. Thought you could use a playmate.”

Elise stomped on the Doctor’s foot, but being so small it didn’t hurt him one bite.

“Where’s Mrs Mantovani?”

The Doctor jumped up and down on Kazran’s bed before jumping off of it. “Oh, you’ll never guess. Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery.”

“There isn’t any lottery.”

“I know. What a woman.”

“If you’re my babysitter, why are you climbing in the window?”

“Because if I was climbing out of the window, I’d be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention.”

“But Mrs Mantovani’s always my babysitter.”

The Doctor approached the computer Kazran was using to record his ‘top secret project’. “Times change. Wouldn’t you say? You see? Christmas Past.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“You. Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Bit scary, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ll bet you don’t. I wish I could see your face.”

The Doctor threw himself on Kazran’s bed. “Right then, your bedroom. Great. Let’s see. You’re twelve years old, so we’ll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard. I love a cupboard.”

He ran over to it and opened it. “Do you know, there’s a thing called a face spider. It’s just like a tiny baby’s head with spider legs, and it’s specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards…”

He closed the door and turned to the now scared twelve year old boy and a wide eyed Elise. “…which, yeah, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned. Right. So. What are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I’ve never actually done that, but I bet it’s easy. Girls? Yeah?”

“Are you really a babysitter?” Kazran asked him.

“I think you’ll find I’m universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult.” He pulled out the psychic paper.

“It’s just a lot of wavy lines.”

“Yeah, it’s shorted out. Finally, a lie too big. Okay, no, not really a babysitter, but it’s Christmas Eve. You don’t want a real one. You want me.”

“Why? What’s so special about you?”

“Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?”

“No.”

“Good. Because that comparison would’ve been rubbish. Elise, remind me to watch that with you. Fish in the fog. Fish in the clouds.” The Doctor climbed onto Kazran’s windowsill and looked out across the roof. “How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?”

“My dad’s invented a machine to control the cloud belt. Tame the sky, he says. The fish’ll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen your dad’s machine.”

“What? You can’t have.”

“Tame the sky. Human beings. You always manage to find the boring alternative, don’t you? You want to see one? A fish. We can do that. We can see a fish.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me it’s dangerous?”

“Dangerous? Come on, we’re boys.”

“Ahem!” Elise snapped, glaring at him.

“Sorry. And girl,” the Doctor corrected himself, “You know what boys say in the face of danger.”

“What?” Kazran asked.

“Mummy.”

“Wait. What about girls?”

The Doctor ruffled Elise’s hair. “They laugh.” The Doctor tied a string to his sonic screwdriver to use as bait as the three of them hid in Kazran’s cupboard. The other end of the string was tied to the Doctor’s finger.

“Are there any face spiders in here?” Kazran asked.

“Nah, not at this time of night. They’ll all be sleeping in your mattress,” the Doctor reassured him, “So, why are you so interested in fish?”

“Because they’re scary.”

“Good answer.”

“What kind of tie is that?”

“A cool one.”

“Why is it cool?”

“Why are you really interested in fish?”

“My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them. A whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains.”

“Were you scared?” Elise asked him.

“I wasn’t there. I was off sick.”

“Ooo, lucky you,” the Doctor said.

Kazran looked down at his lap and Elise reached over and patted his arm.

“Not lucky,” the Doctor added.

“It’s all anyone ever talks about now. The day the fish came. Everyone’s got a story.”

“But you don’t. I see.”

“Why are you recording this?”

“Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?”

“Sorry, what?”

“Because you’re not paying attention now.” The Doctor’s finger was moving, which meant something had taken the bait. The Doctor motioned for them to keep quiet.

“Doctor, are you sure?” Kazran asked.

“Trust me.”

“Okay.”

“Oi. Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don’t care. Trust me.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why it’s cool.”

The Doctor left the cupboard, leaving Kazran and Elise alone.

“What is it? What kind? Can I see?” Kazran asked.

“Just stay there a moment,” the Doctor told him.

“Is it big?”

“Nah, just a little one.”

“How little?”

“Um…”

“Can I come out?”

“No, no. Maybe just wait there for a moment.”

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Elise asked. Something wasn’t right.

“What color is it?” Kazran asked.

“Big. Big color,” the Doctor said. The Doctor ran back inside the cupboard as it started to shake.

“What’s happening?” Kazran asked.

“Well, concentrating on the plusses, you’ve definitely got a story of your own now. Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I think I understand how the fog works, which is going to help me land a spaceship in the future and save a lot of lives. And I bet I get some very interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it back from the shark in your bedroom.”

“A shark!” Elise yelled.

“There’s a shark in my bedroom?” Kazran asked.

“Oh fine, focus on that part,” the Doctor said.

The banging stopped.

“Has it gone? What’s it doing?” Kazran asked.

“What do you call it if you don’t have any feet, and you’re taking a run-up?”

The Doctor pushed Elise and Kazran to the back of the cupboard as the shark bust down the doors, but it got stuck.

“It’s going to eat us. It’s going to eat us,” Kazran repeated.

Elise wished he would shut up.

“It’s going to eat us. Is it going to eat us?”

“Well, maybe we’re going to eat it, but I don’t like the odds. It’s stuck, though. Let’s see. Tiny shark brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably send a pulse and stun it. Elise…”

Elise searched her pockets. “I don’t have mine!”

“What? I told you to keep it on you at all times!”

“I don’t sleep with it!”

“Well, where’s your screwdriver?” Kazran asked the Doctor.

“Well, concentrating on the plusses, within reach. You know, there’s a real chance the way it’s wedged in the doorway is keeping its mouth open.”

“There is?”

“Just agree with me, because I’ve only got two goes, and then it’s your turn.”

“Two goes?”

“Two arms. Right, then. Okay. Geronimo. Open wide.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kazran and Elise were kneeling next to the stunned shark as the Doctor lamented about his screwdriver.

“What’s the big fishy done to you? Swallowed half of you, that’s what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy.”

“Doctor? I think she’s dying,” Kazran said.

The Doctor soniced her with the good half of his screwdriver. “Half my screwdriver’s still inside, but yeah, I think so. I doubt they can survive long outside the cloud belt. Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night.” The Doctor looked at Kazran, who had tears on his cheeks.

“Can’t we get it back up there? We were just going to stun it. I didn’t want to kill it.”

“She was trying to eat you.”

“She was hungry.”

Elise put her small hand on the Doctor’s arm and looked at him with her big blue eyes. He could tell that like Kazran, she was about to start crying. “Can’t you save her? Please?”

The Doctor sighed. “I’m sorry, Kazran, Elise. I can’t save her. I could take her back up there, but she’d never survive the trip. We need a fully functioning life-support.”

“You mean like an icebox? Okay.”

Kazran, the Doctor, and Elise ran down into the living room, where the Doctor spotted a Christmas tree.

He ran over to it, looking at all the decorations. “Ooo, a tree! Look at the tree!”

Kazran grabbed a lamp and they continued downstairs until they came to a cryovault.

“What is this?” the Doctor asked.

“The surplus population. That’s what my Dad calls it.” Kazran told him.

They tried opening the door, but nothing happened.

“Oh, it’s not turning. Oh, why won’t it turn? We’re running out of time,” Kazran said.

The Doctor walked over to a keypad. “Ah, what’s the number?”

“I don’t know.”

The Doctor started typing random numbers and then tried the door again. “This place is full of alarms. It’s not just the door. I need the number! I need the number!”

“I’m not allowed to know until I’m older!”

The Doctor backed away from the door. “Stay here.” He turned and started to run back up the stairs.

“Dad!” Elise yelled.

“I’ll be right back!”

A few minutes later, the TARDIS appeared and the Doctor ran out. “Seven two five eight. Seven two five eight.”

Kazran typed in the number and the Doctor opened the door.

They entered the cryovault.

Fish swam in the fog surrounding their feet.

“Ah, there’s fish down here, too,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, but only tiny ones. The house is built on a fog lake, that’s how Dad freezes the people,” Kazran told them as they walked down the corridor, “They’re all full, but we could borrow one. Yeah, this one.”

The Doctor and Elise walked up to it.

“Hello again,” the Doctor said, spotting the familiar blonde.

“You know her?” Kazran asked.

“Why her? Important, is she?”

“She won’t mind. She loves the fish.” Kazran hit a couple of buttons on the side and a recording started playing.

“My name is Abigail Pettigrew, and I’m very grateful for Mr. Sardick’s kindness. My father…”

“She starts to talk about the fish in a minute,” Kazran said. Kazran and Elise watched the recording as the Doctor continued down the corridor.

“But I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr. Elliot Sardick. But I’m also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish.”

“Why are these people here?” the Doctor asked.

“…they dash beneath the light as they dart through the fog.”

“What’s all this for?”

“My dad lends money. He always takes a family member as, he calls it security,” Kazran said.

“That’s horrible. To have someone taken from you like that,” Elise said.

“Hard man to love, your dad,” the Doctor told him, “But I suppose you know that.”

“…Nature. I am not alone, and I am at peace.”

The recording of Abigail stopped.

The Doctor’s screwdriver started to make the sound it used to attract the fish earlier.

“What’s wrong?” Kazran asked.

“Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself. It’s signaling the other half.”

Matching bleeping sounds started to get closer to them.

“The other half’s inside the shark…” Kazran said.

“Yeah? Sounds like she’s woken up. Okay, so it’s homing on the screwdriver,” the Doctor said.

The shark appeared in front of them.

“Run!” Elise yelled.

The three of them took off in opposite directions.

Elise hid behind a couple of chambers until she heard singing.

“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan. Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow. In the bleak midwinter long ago.”

Elise came out of her hiding place and followed the sound of the singing until she came across Abigail.

The shark was lying at her feet as she sang.

Elise carefully walked around the shark and joined her father and Kazran.

“It’s not really the singing, of course,” the Doctor said.

“Yes, it is,” Kazran argued.

“Nah.”

“The fish love the singing. It’s true.”

“Nah. The notes resonate in the ice crystals, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog.” The Doctor slapped his neck. “Ow. A fish bit me.”

“Shut up, then.”

“Heaven and earth shall flee away…”

“Of course. That’s how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate the crystals at exactly the right frequency, you could align them into…” The Doctor slapped his neck again. “Ow! Why do they keep biting me?”

“Look, the fish like the singing, okay? Now shut up,” Kazran told him.

“Okay!”

“In the bleak midwinter, falling down before, the ox and ass and camel which adore.”

Elise closed her eyes, listening to the song. She vaguely remembered her mother singing her to sleep, but the memory quickly morphed into being held by the Doctor after the crash of the Byzantium. Elise took the Doctor’s hand in her own and set her head on his arm.

Once Abigail had finished her song, they quickly got the shark into the cryochamber.

“Everyone into the TARDIS!” the Doctor told them.

Kazran opened the doors and he and Abigail stood there in the doorway starstruck. “It’s bigger on the inside!” Kazran said.

“Yeah, it’s the color. Really knocks the walls back,” the Doctor told him, “Shark in a box, to go.”

They all piled into the TARDIS and the Doctor ran up to the console, putting them in flight.

“This is amazing,” Abigail said.

“Nah, this is transport. I keep amazing out here,” the Doctor said. He ran over to the doors and opened them.

They were hovering in the clouds. Shoals of fish swam around them.

“Come on, then. Let’s get this shark out.” The Doctor typed in the code and the cryochamber opened, allowing the shark to fly out into the clouds.

Kazran took a picture of Abigail as she stared out at the fish.

The Doctor closed the cryochamber, seeing a dial on the front. “Abigail, this number. What does it mean?”

“It pertains to me, sir, not the fish.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?”

“Do you need a doctor?”

Something on the console dinged.

“Ah. Sorry. Time’s up, kids,” the Doctor told them, running up to the platform.

“Why?” Kazran asked.

“It’s nearly Christmas Day!”

They went back to the cryovault and Abigail stepped back into her cryochamber. “If you should ever wish to visit again…” she said.

“Well, you know, if we’re ever in the neighborhood,” the Doctor told her.

“They come every Christmas Eve,” Kazran said.

“What?”

“Yeah, they do. Every time. They promise.”

“No, we don’t.”

Kazran shut Abigail’s cryochamber.

Elise and the Doctor ran back to the TARDIS to hop to the next Christmas Eve.

This continued for several Christmas Eve’s until Kazran became a teenager.

“Merry Christmas!” Kazran, the Doctor, and Elise said as the cryochamber door swung open.

“Kazran…” Abigail said, looking him up and down.

They went back to the TARDIS.

“You’ve grown,” Abigail told him.

“Yes.”

“And now you’re blushing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“So, Doctor, where this time?”

“Pick a Christmas Eve. I’ve got them all right here,” the Doctor told him.

“Might I make a request?” Abigail asked.

“Of course.”

“This one.”

Abigail gave the Doctor an address and they landed outside a small home. Abigail stood by the window, while the Doctor, Elise, and Kazran stood a little ways away from her.

“Who are they?” Kazran asked.

“Her family. The lady’s her sister. Elise and I met her once, when she was older,” the Doctor told him.

“Abigail’s crying.”

“Yes.”

“When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?”

“I have absolutely no idea. Normally when Elise is crying, I sing to her.”

Kazran walked over to Abigail, while the Doctor and Elise walked up the front door.

They went inside and explained what was going on before the Doctor waked over to the closed curtains and opened them. “Come in,” he told Kazran and Abigail.

The two of them came inside.

Elise admired the Christmas decorations. Her favorite things were the tinsel and the Christmas lights. They were so bright and shiny and made her feel happy.

Abigail’s sister suddenly stood up and said, “Tomorrow’s Christmas dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend.”

“Isabella…” Abigail said.

“Instead, we’ll have it tonight.”

The table was loaded down with food and the Doctor placed a paper crown on Elise’s head, before they did Christmas crackers. As they were eating dinner, Elise turned to the Doctor. “Daddy?”

“Yes sweetheart.”

“Can we have Christmas like this every year? With Rory, Amy, and River?”

The Doctor gave her a soft smile and kissed her on the forehead. “Whatever you want, Ellie.”

Eventually it was time for Abigail to return to her cryovault. “Best Christmas Eve ever,” she said.

“Ah. Till the next one,” the Doctor said.

“I look forward to it. Now I’d like to say good night to Kazran.”

“Of course, yes.”

The four of them stood there awkwardly.

“Well, on you go.”

Kazran gave the Doctor a look.

“Oh. Oh. Yes. Right. Sorry. We’ll, er, we’ll go, then. Good night. Good luck. Night. Good night.” The Doctor backed into a cryochamber, causing Elise to roll her eyes. “Sorry.”

The Doctor and Elise started to make their way back to the TARDIS and Kazran ran after them.

“Doctor. I, er, I think she’s going to kiss me,” he said.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“I’ve never kissed anyone before. What do I do?”

The Doctor put his arm around Kazran’s shoulders. “Well, try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to be like that anyway. Might as well make it part of the plan, then it’ll feel on purpose. Off you go, then.” The Doctor gave Kazran a nudge toward Abigail.

“What, now? I kiss her now?”

“Kazran, trust me. It’s this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don’t make my mistakes. Now, go.”

Even though Elise one day hoped she’d find someone who loved her, she still thought kissing was gross.


	4. Chapter 4

Kazran closed Abigail’s cryochamber.

They’d just gotten back from 1950’s Hollywood where the Doctor married Marilyn Monroe.

Elise couldn’t wait to tell River about what happened.

“There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We’ll see you in a minute, eh?” The Doctor slapped Kazran on the back. “I mean, a year.”

“Doctor? Listen, why don’t we leave it?” Kazran asked.

“Sorry, leave what?”

“Oh, you know, this. Every Christmas Eve. It’s getting a bit old.”

“Old?”

“Well, Christmas is for kids, isn’t it? I’ve got some work with my dad now. I’m going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize we were boring you.”

“Not your fault. Times change.” Kazran started to walk away from them.

“Not as much as I’d hoped. Kazran!” The Doctor took out his half screwdriver and flipped it in the air. “I’ll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell.” He handed it to Kazran. “Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. I’ll hear you.”

“I won’t need you.”

“What’s happened? What are you not telling me?”

Kazran walked away from them again.

“What about Abigail?”

“I know where to find her.”

“Yeah.”

The Doctor and Elise went back to the TARDIS.

“Does this mean Amy and Rory and all those people are gonna die?” Elise asked.

The Doctor knelt in front of her. “No. No I’m gonna find a way to save them. Do you trust me?”

Elise nodded.

Sardick reappeared in the cryovault.

Elise and the Doctor stood in front of him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” the Doctor told him.

“All my life, I’ve been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me.”

“Better a broken heart than no heart at all.”

“Oh, try it. You try it. Why are you here?”

“Because I’m not finished with you yet. You’ve seen the past, the present, and now you need to see the future.”

“Fine. Do it. Show me. I’ll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will. We all do. What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I’m going to let those people die? It’s not a plan. I don’t get anything from it. It’s just that I don’t care. I’m not like you. I don’t even want to be like you. I don’t and never, ever will care.”

“And I don’t believe that.”

“Then show me the future. Prove me wrong.”

“I am showing it to you. I’m showing it to you right now. So what do you think? Is this who you want to become, Kazran?”

Sardick turned around to see the younger version of himself.

“Dad?”

Sardick raised his hand to hit his younger self.

They both started crying and hugged each other.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. It’s okay, don’t be frightened. I’m, I’m so, so, sorry.”

“Kazran. We don’t have much time,” the Doctor told him.

They rushed upstairs and the Doctor pulled out a device to talk to the ship. “Hello? Hello? Ah, hello, everyone. Prepare to lock on to my signal.”

“Doctor, what’s happening?” Amy asked.

“I just saved Christmas. Don’t go away.”

Sardick was over at the machine that controlled the cloud layers.

“We good to go, then?” the Doctor asked.

“The controls, they won’t respond.”

“Of course they will. They’re isomorphic. They’re tuned to your brainwaves. They’ll only respond to you.”

“They won’t respond.”

“That doesn’t make sense. That’s ridiculous. Why wouldn't…? Oh. Oh, of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor.”

“What’s wrong? Tell me, what is it?”

“It’s you. It’s you. I’ve changed you too much. The machine doesn’t recognize you.”

“But my father programmed it.”

“No, your father would never have programmed it for the man you are now.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Er, er, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“There must be something,” the younger Kazran said.

Sardick pulled out his half of the sonic screwdriver. “This. You can use this. I kept it, see?”

“What, half a screwdriver? With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer. If we use your aerial to boost the signal, set up a resonation pattern between the two halves. Ooo, come on, that would work. My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet. Coolest two bits. It could do it.”

“Do what?” Sardick asked.

“Well, my screwdriver is still trying to repair. It’s signaling itself. We use the signal, but we send something else.”

“Send what?” Kazran asked.

“Well, what? What?” Sardick asked.

“I’m sorry, Kazran. I truly am,” the Doctor said.

“I don’t understand.”

“We need to transmit something into the cloud belt. Something we know works. We need her to sing.”

They went down into the cryovault.

“Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals. It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too,” the Doctor said.

“Could you do it? Could you do this? Think about it, Doctor. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?”

Abigail stepped out of the cryochamber. “Christmas. Christmas Day. Look at you. You’re so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hoarding my days, like an old miser.”

“But if you leave the ice now…”

“We’ve had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it’s time for Christmas Day.”

“Yes.”

They went outside and the Doctor hooked the sonic screwdriver up to the beam transmitter in the dome.

Abigail used it as a microphone as she sang. “When you’re alone, silence is all you know.”

“Well? Well?” Sardick asked.

“Well, the singing resonates in the crystals. It’s feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. Now, one song, filling the sky. The crystals will align and I’ll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock,” the Doctor said.

“What does that mean, unlock? What happens when a cloud unlocks?” Kazran asked.

“Something that hasn’t happened in this town for a very long time now.”

“When you’re alone, silence is all you see. When you’re alone, silence is all you’ll be. Give me your hand and come to me.”

Snow started falling from the sky.

“When you are here, music is all around. When you are near, music is all around. Open your eyes, don’t make a sound.”

The shark from all those years ago swam above them.

“Hello, my old friend,” Sardick said.

“Let in the shadow.”

“Let’s go,” the Doctor said.

Young Kazran went into the TARDIS.

“Let in the shadow, let in the light of your bright shadow. Let in the shadow, let in the shadow.”

“Come on,” the Doctor told Elise.

They took the young Kazran home and came back.

While they waited for Amy and Rory, the Doctor helped Elise make a snowman.

“You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person. The snowman isn’t bad, either,” Amy said.

“Amy! Rory!” Elise yelled, running towards them.

“Hello little miss,” Amy giggled as she scooped Elise up in her arms.

“Ah, yes, you two. About time. Why are you dressed like that?” the Doctor asked.

“Er, kind of lost our luggage. Kind of crash landed?” Rory said.

“Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?”

“Yeah, they really love their snowmen around here, don’t they? I’ve counted about twenty,” Amy said.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” the Doctor told her.

“Yeah. Yeah, you have.” Amy set Elise down and hugged the Doctor. “Thank you.”

“Pleasure. Right, come on then, let’s go.”

“Got any more honeymoon ideas?” Rory asked.

“Well, there’s a moon that’s made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey, and it’s not actually a moon, and technically it’s alive, and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah. Great. Thanks,” Rory said, entering the TARDIS.

“Are you, are you okay?” Amy asked.

“Of course I’m okay,” the Doctor said, “You?”

“Of course. It’ll be their last day together, won’t it?”

“Everything has got to end sometime, otherwise nothing would ever get started.”

Rory popped his head out and said, “Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like the Marilyn.”

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Tell her I’ll phone her back. And that was never a real chapel.”

“Where are they? Kazran and Abigail.”

“Off on a little trip, I should think.”

“Where?”

“Christmas.”

“Christmas?”

“Yeah, Christmas.”

Amy went inside the TARDIS.

“Halfway out of the dark.”

The Doctor and Elise went inside the TARDIS.

“I believe I owe you a bedtime story. Go get ready for bed. I’m just going to send us into the Vortex,” the Doctor told her.

Elise ran off to her room.

A few minutes later, the Doctor entered her room with a cup of hot cocoa and a book under his arm. “All ready?” he asked.

Elise nodded.

He handed her the mug and sat next to her on the bed.

Elise burrowed into his side.

“Comfy?”

Elise nodded again.

“Okay.”

“Are you gonna do funny voices?”

“Is there any other way to read a story?”

The Doctor cleared his throat and opened the book. “A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Stave One. Marley’s Ghost. Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that…”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first episode of series 6!

Amy, Rory, and River entered the diner.

“You got 3, I was 2, Mr. Delaware was 4,” River said.

“So?” Rory asked.

“So, where’s 1? And where was Elise? She should have been there with him. She would have never left his side. He means too much to her.”

“What, you think he invited someone else?”

“Well, he must have. He planned all of this, to the last detail.”

“Will you two shut up? It doesn’t matter,” Amy told them.

“He was up to something,” River said.

“He’s dead.”

“Space, 1969. What did he mean?”

“You’re still talking, but it doesn’t matter.”

“Hey, it mattered to him,” Rory said.

“So it matters to us,” River added.

“He’s dead,” Amy told them.

“But he still needs us. I know. Amy, I know. But right now we have to focus,” River said.

Rory looked around the diner and spotted a blue envelope on a table near the back. “Look.” He walked up to the man at the counter. “Excuse me, who was sitting over there?”

“Some guy and a little girl,” the man said.

River ran over to the table and picked up the envelope with a number one on it. “The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it’s the end, who do you call?” River asked.

“Er, your friends. People you trust,” Rory said.

“Number 1. Who did The Doctor trust the most?”

The door to the restrooms opened and both Elise and the Doctor sauntered out.

“River!” Elise yelled, running to the bushy haired woman.

“Little star! You’ve grown!”

Elise now looked to be around 8 years old. The last time they had seen each other, she’d just turned 5.

River looked up at the Doctor. “This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold,” she said.

“Or hello, as people used to say.”

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“I just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz.”

Amy walked up to him and circled him. “You’re okay. How can you be okay?”

“Hey, of course I’m okay. I’m always okay.” He hugged Amy. “I’m the King of Okay. Oh, that’s a rubbish title. Forget that title. Rory the Roman!” He hugged Rory next. “That’s a good title. Hello, Rory. And Doctor River Song. Oh, you bad, bad girl. What trouble have you got for me this time?”

River slapped the Doctor.

Elise winced at the sound.

“Okay. I’m assuming that’s for something I haven’t done yet,” the Doctor said.

“Yes, it is,” River told him.

“Good. Looking forward to it.”

“I don’t understand. How can you be here?” Rory asked, poking the Doctor in the chest.

“I was invited.” The Doctor took the envelope from River. “Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it’s a hell of a coincidence.”

“River, what’s going on?” Amy asked.

“Amy, ask him what age he is.”

Rory rubbed his face tiredly.

“That’s a bit personal,” the Doctor said.

“Tell her. Tell her what age you are,” River told him.

“Nine hundred and nine.”

“Yeah, but you said you were…” Amy said.

“So where does that leave us, huh? Jim the fish? Have we done Jim the fish yet?” River asked.

The Doctor smiled excitedly. “Who’s Jim the fish?”

“I don’t understand,” Amy said.

“Yeah, you do,” Rory told her.

“I don’t! What are we all doing here?” the Doctor asked.

“We’ve been recruited. Something to do with space 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the third,” River said.

“Recruited by who?”

“Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe. Besides Elise and myself.”

“And who’s that?”

“Spoilers.”

They all piled into the TARDIS and the Doctor danced around the console as he rambled.

“1969, that’s an easy one! Funny, how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware the third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose.”

Both River and Amy went below the platform.

“Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?” the Doctor asked.

“I’ll find out.” Rory went below the platform and Elise followed him.

“Elise, sweetie. Come here,” River told her.

“Woah. How do we know she can be trusted? What if she tells the Doctor?” Rory asked.

“If anyone knows the importance of keeping timelines, it’s Elise. Ellie, you cannot tell your father. Do you understand?”

Elise nodded.

“Okay. Explain it again,” Amy said.

“The Doctor we saw on the beach is a future version, two hundred years older than the one up there.”

“But all that’s still going to happen. He’s still going to die.”

Die? The Doctor was going to die?

“We’re all going to do that, Amy.”

“We’re not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves. So, the Doctor, in the future, knowing he’s going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to, to what, exactly? Avenge him?” Rory asked.

“Uh uh. Avenging’s not his style,” River told him.

“Save him,” Amy said.

“Yeah, that’s not really his style either,” Rory commented.

“We have to tell him.”

“We’ve told him all we can. We can’t even tell him we’ve seen his future self. He’s interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe,” River explained.

“Yes, but he’s done it before,” Amy said.

“And in fairness, the universe did blow up,” Rory said.

“But he’d want to know.”

“Would he? Would anyone?” River asked.

The Doctor poked his head over the side of the platform.

“I’m being extremely clever up here, and there’s no one to stand around looking impressed! What’s the point in having you all?”

River rolled her eyes as Rory ascended the stairs. “Couldn’t you just slap him sometimes?”

“River, we can’t just let him die. We have to stop it. How can you be okay with this?” Amy asked.

“The Doctor’s death doesn’t frighten me. Nor does my own. There’s a far worse day coming for me.”

River ascended the stairs, leaving Amy and Elise.

“What about you, little miss?” she asked.

Elise looked up at her and Amy could tell the young Timelord was fighting back tears. She didn’t want the Doctor to die, but if she got 200 more years with him she’d be okay with that.

Amy and Elise joined everyone on the platform.

“Time isn’t a straight line. It’s all bumpy wumpy. There’s loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays,” the Doctor ranted, “Big temporal tipping points when anything’s possible. The TARDIS can’t resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that’s space in the sixties, and Canton Everett Delaware the third, and this is where she’s pointing.”

They all looked at the monitor.

“Washington D.C., April the eighth, 1969,” Amy read, “So why haven’t we landed?”

“Because that’s not where we’re going,” the Doctor told her.

“Oh. Where are we going?” Rory asked.

“Home. Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. And you, Doctor Song, back to prison. And me? I’m late for a biplane lesson in 1911 and Elise has a lesson with Picasso. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes. One or the other.” The Doctor threw himself onto the jump seat as River, Rory, and Amy looked at him. “What? A mysterious summons. You think I’m just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know. I can see it in your faces. Don’t play games with me. Don’t ever, ever think you’re capable of that.”

“You’re going to have to trust us this time.”

“Trust you? Sure.” He got up and stood nearly nose to nose with River. Him being so close to River made Elise nervous until she reminded herself that the Doctor would never lay a hand on her. “But, first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing. Who are you? You’re someone from my future. Getting that. But who? Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill, hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously.”

“Trust me,” Amy told him.

“Okay.” He walked up to Amy.

“You have to do this, and you can’t ask why.”

“Are you being threatened? Is someone making you say that?”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Swear to me. Swear to me on something that matters.”

“Fish fingers and custard.”

“My life in your hands, Amelia Pond.”

“Thank you,” River told Amy, who looked like she wanted to puke.

“So! Canton Everett Delaware the third. Who’s he?” the Doctor asked. He brought his file up on the monitor.

“Ex FBI. Got kicked out,” River said.

“Why?”

“Six weeks after he left the Bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting.”

“Yeah, 1969. Who’s President?”

“Nixon,” Elise said.

The Doctor and River looked down at her.

“I read a book in the TARDIS library,” she said.

Both of them had smiles on their faces, looking every inch proud parents.

“Richard Milhous Nixon. Vietnam, Watergate. There’s some good stuff, too,” River said.

“Not enough,” the Doctor commented.

“Hippie!”

“Archaeologist. Okay, since I don’t know what I’m getting into this time, for once I’m being discreet. I’m putting the engines on silent.” He pulled a lever and there was a loud wail.

River threw a different switch and it stopped.

“Did you do something?” the Doctor asked her.

“No, just watching.”

“Putting the outer shield on invisible. I haven’t done this in a while. Big drain on the power.”

“You can turn the TARDIS invisible?” Rory asked.

“Ha!” the Doctor said, pressing a button.

A bunch of lights came on.

“Very nearly,” River said, pulling another lever that turned them off.

“Er, did you touch something?” the Doctor asked her.

“Just admiring your skills, sweetie.”

“Good. You might learn something. Okay. Now I can’t check the scanner. It doesn’t work when we’re cloaked. Just give us a mo.” The Doctor ran to the doors and everyone started to follow him. “Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa. You lot, wait a moment. We’re in the middle of the most powerful city in the most powerful country on Earth. Let’s take it slow.” With that, the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented about missing me. I had something major happen in my life and I kinda lost my mojo. I didn't feel like writing or posting. I'm feeling better about everything that happened and daily updates will now resume. Thank you for being understanding!

As they were waiting for the Doctor, the TARDIS jolted.

River shook her head. “Every time.” She walked over to the monitor.

“He said the scanner wouldn’t work,” Rory said.

“I know. Bless.” River plugged a wire into the monitor and they were able to see what was going on.

The Doctor was on the ground with people on top of him. “Stop that! Argh! Oh! River, have you got my scanner working yet?”

“Oh, I hate him,” River muttered.

“No, you don’t!”

“Get the President out of here. Sir, you have to go with them, now!” a man yelled.

“River, make her blue again!” the Doctor yelled.

River threw several switches.

“What the hell is that?” Nixon asked.

The Doctor slipped out from under them and was now sitting in the president’s chair. “Mr. President, that child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren’t listening. Never mind, though, because the answer’s yes. I’ll take the case. Fellows, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States and parked a big blue box on the rug. Do you think you can just shoot me?”

River ran out of the TARDIS, Amy, Rory, and Elise following.

Amy and Rory hid Elise behind them.

“They’re Americans!” River yelled.

“Don’t shoot. Definitely no shooting.” The Doctor threw his hands up in the air along with Rory, Amy, and River.

“Nobody shoot us either. Very much not in need of getting shot. Look, we’ve got our hands up,” Rory said.

“Who the hell are you?” Nixon asked.

“Sir, you need to stay back,” a man, who Elise assumed was Canton, said.

“But who are they and what is that box?”

“It’s a police box. Can’t you read? I’m your new undercover agent on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Legs, the Nose, the Protégé, and Mrs. Robinson,” the Doctor said.

“I hate you,” River muttered.

“No, you don’t.”

“Who are you?” Nixon asked.

“Nah, boring question. Who’s phoning you? That’s interesting. Because Canton Three is right. That was definitely a girl’s voice, which means there’s only one place in America she can be phoning from,” the Doctor said.

“Where?” Canton asked.

“Do not engage with the intruder, Mr. Delaware!” a man yelled.

Elise was guessing he was Nixon’s bodyguard or something.

“You heard everything I heard. It’s simple enough. Give me five minutes, I’ll explain.” The Doctor sat back down. “On the other hand, lay a finger on me or my friends and daughter, and you’ll never, ever know.”

“How did you get it in here? I mean, you didn’t carry it in,” Canton said.

“Clever, eh?”

“Love it.”

“Do not compliment the intruder,” Nixon’s bodyguard told him.

“Five minutes?” Canton asked the Doctor.

“Five.”

“Mr. President, that man is a clear and present danger to…” Nixon’s bodyguard started.

“Mr. President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and four of his friends, and that’s the man he walked past. One of them’s worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes. See if he delivers,” Canton said.

“Thanks, Canton,” the Doctor told him.

“If he doesn’t, I’ll shoot him myself.”

“Not so thanks.”

“Sir, I cannot recommend…” Nixon’s bodyguard said.

“Shut up, Peterson!” Nixon yelled, “All right, five minutes.”

Everyone lowered their guns and Elise felt like she was going to pass out from the relief. She wasn’t planning on regenerating today anyway.

“I’m going to need a SWAT team, ready to mobilize. Street level maps covering all of Florida. A pot of coffee, twelve Jammie Dodgers and a fez.”

“Get him his maps,” Canton ordered.

Elise ran over to her father, who scooped her up and set her in his lap.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He could feel her little hearts racing.

Elise nodded and the Doctor kissed her head.

Soon the entire room was covered in maps and the Doctor had shed his jacket.

Elise was wearing it as she searched the maps.

“Why Florida?” Canton asked.

“There’s where NASA is. She mentioned a spaceman. NASA’s where the spacemen live. Also, there’s another lead I’m following,” the Doctor told him.

“Amy, what’s wrong?” Rory asked her.

She was doubled over and holding her stomach.

“Amy?” River asked from her place on the couch.

“You all right?” the Doctor asked, walking over to River with his map.

“Yeah. No, I’m fine,” Amy reassured them, “I’m just feeling a little sick. Excuse me, is there a toilet or something?”

“Sorry, ma'am, while this procedure’s ongoing, you must remain within the Oval office,” one of Nixon’s bodyguards said.

“Shut up and take her to the restroom,” Canton ordered.

“This way, ma'am,” the other said.

“Thanks,” Amy muttered.

Elise thought Amy was acting weird, so she got up to follow her.

“Elise…” the Doctor warned her.

Elise turned back and glared at her father.

“Come sit with me, little star”, River said.

Elise walked over to River and plopped down in her lap.

“Amy will be okay,” River told her.

“Your five minutes are up,” Canton told the Doctor.

“Yeah, and where’s my fez?”

The telephone started ringing and everyone looked at the phone, except Elise.

“The kid?” Canton asked.

“Should I answer it?” Nixon asked.

Elise’s little Timelord brain was going a mile a minute. She suddenly got up and ran over to the Doctor.

“What? What is it, Ellie?” he asked her.

She pointed to the table and the Doctor picked her up. She spun the map around and pointed to something.

The Doctor looked down at it and smiled. “My clever girl.” He kissed her forehead before turning to Canton as Amy and Nixon’s bodyguard reentered the room. “Here! The only place in the United States that call could be coming from. See? Obvious, when you think about it.”

“You, sir, are a genius,” Canton told the Doctor.

“Don’t thank me. Thank Elise.”

“Mister President, answer the phone.”

Nixon picked up the phone and pressed record on the recording device. “Hello. This is President Nixon.”

“It’s here! The spaceman’s here! It’s going to get me! It’s going to eat me!” a little girl’s voice said.

Amy, Rory, and River ran inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor picked Elise up and carried her to the TARDIS. “There’s no time for a SWAT team. Let’s go. Mister President, tell her help’s on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you,” the Doctor told him.

“What the hell are you doing?” Canton ran in behind them.

The Doctor ran up to the console and set the TARDIS in flight. “Jefferson isn’t a girl’s name. It’s not her name either. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton. Elise?” the Doctor asked.

Elise was silent.

“Ellie?”

Elise was looking at Canton.

The Doctor could tell by the way she was playing with the buttons on his jacket that she didn’t feel comfortable speaking in front of him.

Even though she’d been speaking for nearly two years by this point, she still got nervous in front of new people. Kazran had been different because he was a child like her.

The Doctor sighed. “River?”

“Surnames of three of America’s founding fathers.” River too was concerned about Elise. She hoped the little girl hadn’t lapsed back into not speaking.

“Lovely fellows. Two of them fancied me. You see, the President asked the child two questions. Where are you and who are you? She was answering where. Now, where would you find three big, historical names in a row like that?”

“Where?” Amy asked.

“Here.” The Doctor landed the TARDIS and ran for the doors. “Come on.”

“It’s er…” Canton stuttered.

“Are you taking care of this?” the Doctor asked Rory. He and River ran out of the TARDIS.

“Why is it always my turn?”

“Because you’re the newest,” Amy told him and kissed his cheek. She took Elise’s hand and said, “C’mon, little miss.”

They stepped out the TARDIS into a warehouse.

“Where are we?” Amy asked.

The Doctor was sitting in a chair, waving a small American flag around. “About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Center. It’s 1969, the year of the moon. Interesting, don’t you think?” he asked.

“But why would a little girl be here?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know. Lost me a bit. The President asked the girl where she was, and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out of the window.” The Doctor got up, after handing the small flag to Elise, walked over to the window and looked out.

Elise put the flag in the pocket of the Doctor’s jacket.

“Streets. Of course, street names,” Amy said.

“The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction. And Doctor Song, you’ve got that face on again,” the Doctor said.

“What face?”

“The “he’s hot when he’s clever” face.”

“This is my normal face.”

“Yes, it is.”

River laughed. “Oh, shut up.”

“Not a chance.”

Rory and Canton finally stepped out of the TARDIS.

“We’ve moved. How, how can we have moved?” Canton asked.

“You haven’t even got to space travel yet?” the Doctor asked Rory.

“I was going to cover it with time travel.”

“Time travel,” Canton said.

“Braveheart, Canton. Come on,” the Doctor told him. The Doctor and Elise entered the next part of the warehouse.

“It’s a warehouse of some kind. Disused,” River said.

“You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course?” the Doctor asked her.

“I noticed the phone, yes.”

“What about it?” Amy asked.

“It was cut off,” River said, “So how did the child phone from here?”

“Okay, but why would anyone want to trap us?”

“Let’s see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards,” the Doctor told them.

Elise rolled her eyes. That was encouraging.

“Now, why would a little girl be here?” River asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s find her and ask her,” the Doctor said.

They soon came across what looked to be a medical table with cords hanging from the ceiling.

“It’s nonterrestrial. Definitely alien. Probably not even from this time zone,” River said.

“Which is odd, because look at this!” The Doctor ran over to a bunch of crates.

“It’s earth tech. It’s contemporary.”

The Doctor picked a space helmet. “It’s very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program.”

“Stolen?”

“What, by aliens?” Amy asked.

“Apparently,” the Doctor said and put the space helmet on.

“But why? I mean, if you can make it all the way to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?” Amy asked.

“Maybe because it’s cooler?” The Doctor flipped up the visor. “Look how cool this stuff is.”

“Cool aliens?”

“Well, what would you call me and Elise?”

“You? An alien.”

“Oi!” The Doctor pulled off the space helmet.

Amy smiled down at Elise who returned it with her own shy smile.

“I, er, I think he’s okay now,” Rory said, joining them with Canton.

“Ah! Back with us, Canton,” the Doctor said.

“I like your wheels.”

“That’s my boy.” The Doctor clapped Canton on the shoulder. “So, come on. Little girl. Let’s find her.”

Canton, Rory, Elise, and the Doctor walked around the warehouse, while Amy and River stayed by the alien technology.

“Doctor? Look at this,” River said, her voice carrying through the empty warehouse.

The Doctor and Elise walked over to her to find her pulling the cover off a manhole.

“So where does that go?” the Doctor asked.

River scanned it with her device. “There’s a network of tunnels running under here.”

“Life signs?”

“No, nothing that’s showing up.”

“Those are the worst kind.”

River climbed inside and started to go down the ladder.

“Be careful,” the Doctor told her.

“Careful? I tried that once. Ever so dull.”

“Shout if you get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I’m quite the screamer. Now there’s a spoiler for you.” River disappeared into the tunnels.

“River!” The Doctor looked down at Elise who was staring at the manhole. River really needed to watch what she said in front of Elise.

“Tell me what’s going on here,” Canton said.

“Er, nothing. She’s just a friend,” the Doctor said.

“I think he’s talking about the possible alien incursion,” Rory told him.

“Okay.” The Doctor clapped both Rory and Canton on the shoulder and walked off.

Elise stayed by the manhole, waiting for River to come back up.

She reappeared, but she was panting like she was scared.

Elise furrowed her small brows at River.

“I’m fine, little star. All clear. Just tunnels. Nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes. I want to take another look around.”

“Stupidly dangerous!” the Doctor told her.

“Yeah, I like it too. Amy, look after him.” River disappeared into the manhole again.

“Rory, would you mind going with her?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, a bit.”

“Then I’d appreciate it all the more.” He patted Rory on the back.

“Hang on, River. I’m coming too.”

Elise looked up at the Doctor and smiled.

“Oh shut up.”

The Doctor and Elise were looking through some things when they heard the girl again.

“Help me! Help! Help me!”

“That’s her,” Canton said.

Amy doubled over again.

“Amy?” the Doctor asked.

“Help me! Please!”

“What’s wrong?” the Doctor asked Amy.

“I need to tell you something. It’s important.”

“Doctor!” Canton yelled.

“It’s really, really important,” Amy said.

“Doctor, quickly!” Canton yelled.

“What, now?” the Doctor asked.

They ran through the warehouse and found Canton out cold on the floor.

“Canton! Canton, are you okay?” the Doctor asked, dropping to his knees beside him.

“Is he all right?” Amy asked.

“Just unconscious. Got a proper whack.”

“Doctor, I need to tell you something. I have to tell you it now.”

“Not a great moment.”

“No, it’s important. It has to be now.”

“Help! Help me! Help me!” the little girl begged.

“Doctor, I’m pregnant,” Amy told him.

Heavy footsteps were coming towards them. They turned and saw an astronaut coming towards them.

“That’s it. The astronaut”, Amy said.

The astronaut pointed at the Doctor as Amy reached for Canton’s gun. The astronaut raised its visor, revealing it was the little girl inside the suit.

“Help me!” she begged.

“Get down!” Amy yelled, pointing the gun at the little girl.

“What are you doing?” the Doctor asked her.

“Saving your life!”

“No!”

Amy pulled the trigger and screamed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re moving swiftly along into “Day of the Moon” and it looks like this one will be a two chapter episode. Kinda like the first one.

River, in an evening gown, and Elise, in a matching child sized one, ran through a skyscraper under construction. River’s first instinct had been to hide in New York City. She also wanted to introduce more of earth culture to Elise.

They both had tally marks running up and down their arms. Two Silence appeared in front of them.

“I see you. I see you,” River said, making two more tally marks on her arm.

Elise did the same.

“Doctor Song? Doctor Song?” Canton’s voice sang.

Elise and River started running again.

“Go! Go! Go!” Canton yelled.

They soon came to an open wall.

“Don’t move! It’s over,” Canton told them.

“They’re here, Canton. They’re everywhere,” River said.

“I know. America’s being invaded.”

“You were invaded a long time ago. America is occupied.”

“You’re coming with us, Doctor Song. There’s no way out this time.”

“There’s always a way out.” She took Elise’s hand in her own and fell back out of the skyscraper, taking Elise with her.

Elise’s whole body flooded with relief as she heard the sound of the TARDIS engines. She and River fell into the TARDIS, through the corridors, and into the swimming pool. Not again… Elise climbed out of the pool and looked around.

At least this time it wasn’t in the library.

Elise walked back to her room and changed before following River to the control room.

River had already dried Elise’s hair and was now drying her own with a towel.

The Doctor danced around the console. “So, we know they’re everywhere. Not just a landing party, an occupying force, and they ‘have been here a very, very long time. But nobody knows that, because no one can remember them.” He spotted Elise and scooped her up in his arms. “Oh, I’ve missed you! Have you grown?”

Elise playfully rolled her eyes, but giggled as the Doctor peppered kisses all over her face. She pushed him away. The beard he’d grown was scratchy.

“Don’t like the beard, huh?” he asked.

Elise shook her head.

The Doctor set her down and she ran over to Amy and Rory to hug them.

“So what are they up to?” Canton asked.

“No idea. But the good news is, we’ve got a secret weapon,” the Doctor told him.

The TARDIS landed and they ran outside to see a big rocket.

“Apollo 11’s your secret weapon?” River asked the Doctor.

“No, no. It’s not Apollo 11. That would be silly. It’s Neil Armstrong’s foot.”

They went back inside the TARDIS and waited while the Doctor cleaned himself up. When he came back into the control room, he was holding a small gun. He first walked over to Canton and injected something into the palm of his hand.

“Ow!” Canton said.

“So, three months. What have we found out?” the Doctor asked walking over to Rory. While Rory was talking, the Doctor injected him.

“Well, they are everywhere. Every state in America. Ow!”

“Not just America, the entire world,” River said.

The Doctor injected Amy.

“So you’ve seen them, but you don’t remember them,” Canton said.

“You’ve seen them, too. That night at the warehouse, remember? While you were pretending to hunt us down, we saw hundreds of those things. We still don’t know what they look like,” River told him.

“It’s like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away. The exact second you’re not looking at them, you can’t remember anything,” Rory said.

“Sometimes you feel a bit sick, though, but not always,” Amy added.

“So that’s why you marked your skin,” Canton said.

“Only way we’d know if we’d had an encounter.”

“How long have they been here?”

“That’s what we’ve spent the last three months trying to find out.”

“Not easy, if you can’t remember anything you discover,” Rory said.

“How long do you think?” Canton asked.

“As long as there’s been something in the corner of your eye, or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall. They’ve been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion, we’re leading a revolution. And today, the battle begins,” the Doctor said.

“How?” Canton asked.

“Like this.” He reached down and injected River.

“Ow!”

The Doctor laughed. “Nanorecorder. Fuses with the cartilage in your hand.” He injected himself. “Ow. And it tunes itself directly to the speech centers in your brain. It’ll pick up your voice, no matter what. Telepathic connection. So, the moment you see one of the creatures, you activate it…” He pressed down on the center of his palm with his ring finger. “…and describe aloud exactly what you’re seeing.”

A recording of the Doctor’s voice played. “And describe aloud exactly what you’re seeing.” “Because the moment you break contact, you’re going to forget it happened. The light will flash if you’ve left yourself a message. You keep checking your hand if you’ve had an encounter. That’s the first you’ll know about it,” the Doctor finished.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before we started?” Canton asked.

“I did, but even information about these creatures erases itself over time. I couldn’t refresh it because I couldn’t talk to you.”

Canton looked away for a second and then looked back at the Doctor, adjusting his bow tie. He noticed everyone staring at him. “What? What are you staring at?” he asked.

“Look at your hand,” River told him.

His nanorecorder was flashing. “Why is it doing that?”

“What does it mean if the light’s flashing? What did I just tell you?” the Doctor asked.

“I haven't…”

“Play it.”

“My God, how did it get in here?” Canton’s voice on the recorder asked.

“Keep eye contact with the creature and, when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bow tie,” the Doctor told him.

“What? What are you staring at?”

“Look at your hand,” River said.

They all turned and saw one of the Silence standing there.

“It’s a hologram, extrapolated from the photo on Amy’s phone. Take a good, long look,” the Doctor told them. He turned off the hologram. “You just saw an image of one of the creatures we’re fighting. Describe it to me.”

“I can’t,” Canton said.

“No. Neither can I. You straightened my bow tie because I planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature.”

“So they could do that to people. You could be doing stuff and not really knowing why you’re doing it,” Amy said as the Doctor pulled the monitor around.

“Like posthypnotic suggestion,” Rory added.

“Ruling the world with posthypnotic suggestion?”

“Now then, a little girl in a spacesuit. They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?” the Doctor asked.

“It could be anywhere,” Canton said.

“Except they’d probably stay close to that warehouse, because why bother doing anything else? And they’d take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention. But you’ll have to find her. Elise and I are off to NASA.”

“Find her? Where do we look?”

The Doctor looked at the monitor. “Children’s homes. But before we do anything else, Ellie…” He picked up the gun again.

River pulled Elise behind her. “Oh no. You are not injecting her,” River argued.

“And why not?” the Doctor asked.

“Because she’s a child.”

“That doesn’t matter River, she needs one.”

“Says who? She’ll be with one of us at all times.”

“River…”

“Doctor, you come one step closer to her with that…”

The Doctor finally sighed and put down the gun. “Fine!”

Elise stood outside the Apollo 11 rocket as the Doctor messed around the inside of it. As she was standing there, two scientists came in. Elise tugged on the Doctor’s pant leg.

Amy called and he answered. “Amy. How do you know? Repeated memory wipes fry your head eventually. Find out what you can, but don’t hang around. Got to go. Got company.” He closed the panel he had been working on and sat up. “Don’t worry, I’ve put everything back the way I found it.” He held up a spare part. “Except this. There’s always a bit left over, isn’t there?” The Doctor climbed out and he and Elise were escorted into a lecture hall and handcuffed.

Elise’s wrists were too small for handcuffs, so they had settled for zip-ties, which the Doctor didn’t appreciate.

“Now, one more time, sir. How the hell did you get into the command module?” a man interrogated them.

“I told you. I’m on a top secret mission for the President and Elise is my assistant. She’s a child prodigy,” the Doctor said.

“Well, maybe if you just get President Nixon to assure us of that, sir, that would be swell.”

“I sent him a message.”

President Nixon walked in with Rory and River. “Hello. I believe its Mr. Gardner. Is that correct? Head of Security?” Nixon asked.

“Er, yes sir. Yes, Mr. President.”

Nixon turned to the other man and shook his hand. “Mr. Grant, is it?”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“The hopes and dreams of millions of Americans stand here today at Cape Kennedy, and you’re the men who guard those dreams. On behalf of the American people, I thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. President,” Gardner said.

“I understand you have a baby on the way, Mr. Grant.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“What are you hoping for, a boy or a girl?”

“Just a healthy American, sir.”

Nixon laughed. “A healthy American will do just nicely. Now, fellows, listen. This man, here, code name the Doctor and his protégé, are doing some work for me personally. Could you cut them a little slack?”

“Er, Mr. President, they did break into Apollo 11,” Gardner said.

Nixon looked at the Doctor who mouthed, “Sorry.”

Elise rolled her eyes, causing River to smile.

Nixon laughed awkwardly. “Well, I’m sure they had a very good reason for that. But I need you to release them now so they can get on with some very important work for the American people. Could you do that for me?”

“Well…” Grant said.

“Son, I am your Commander in Chief.”

“Then I guess that would be fine, Mr. President.”

“Glad to hear it.”

The Doctor had his handcuffs removed and jumped up from his chair.

Elise followed him, her wrists still bound. She walked over to River, who placed a hand on her upper back to lead her to the TARDIS to cut the zip-tie off.

They entered the TARDIS and River walked over to her jacket and pulled out a pocket knife. She knelt in front of Elise and cut the zip-tie. “Arresting a child…” she muttered.

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor followed Nixon out.

River’s device started ringing and she answered it. “Canton? Whoa. Slow down. What’s happened?”


	8. Chapter 8

When River, the Doctor, Rory, and Elise got to the children’s home, they found Canton pointing a gun at a door.

“Okay, gun down. I’ve got it,” the Doctor told him. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and soniced the lock.

“Amy, we’re here. Are you okay?” Rory asked.

“I can’t see!” Amy cried.

The Doctor opened the door and they rushed in.

The room was empty except for the spacesuit that was lying on the floor.

“Where is she, Doctor?” Rory asked.

The Doctor soniced the spacesuit and River pulled up the visor. “It’s empty,” she said.

“It’s dark. So dark. I don’t know where I am. Please, can anybody hear me?” Amy’s voice asked. Amy’s nanorecorder was lying on the floor, flashing.

Rory picked it up. “They took this out of her. How did they do that, Doctor? Why can I still hear her?”

“Is it a recording?” River asked.

The Doctor soniced the recorder. “Um, it defaults to live. This is current. Wherever she is right now, this is what she’s saying.”

“Amy, can you hear me? We’re coming for you. Wherever you are, we’re coming, I swear,” Rory said.

“She can’t hear you. I’m so sorry. It’s one way,” the Doctor told him.

“She can always hear me, Doctor. Always. Wherever she is, and she always knows that I am coming for her. Do you understand me? Always.”

Rory’s devotion to Amy always warmed Elise’s hearts. She hoped that one day she’d find someone who would search the universe to get back to her.

“Doctor, are you out there? Can you hear me? Doctor? Oh, God. Please, please, Doctor, just get me out of this,” Amy’s voice begged.

“He’s coming. I’ll bring him, I swear,” Rory said.

“Hello? Is somebody there?” a voice asked.

A man came into the room. It was the owner of the orphanage. “I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We c…I can’t re…I can’t remember.”

They went down to his office and a Silence was lying on the floor, bleeding from a gunshot wound.

Elise gasped and hid behind River and Rory as the Doctor knelt in front of the creature.

“Okay. Who and what are you?” the Doctor asked.

“Silence, Doctor. We are the Silence. And Silence will fall,” it said.

They took the spacesuit back to the warehouse to examine it.

“It’s an exoskeleton. Basically, life support. There’s about twenty different kinds of alien tech in here,” River said.

“Who was she? Why put her in here?” the Doctor asked.

“You put this on, you don’t even need to eat. The suit processes sunlight directly. It’s got built in weaponry, and a communications system that can hack into anything.”

“Including the telephone network?”

“Easily.”

“But why phone the President?”

“It defaults to the highest authority it can find. The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call. The night terrors with a hotline to the White House.”

The Doctor stepped away and licked his blue envelope.

“You won’t learn anything from that envelope, you know,” River told him.

“Purchased on earth. Perfectly ordinary stationery. TARDIS blue. Summoned by a stranger who won’t even show his face. That’s a first, for me. How about you?”

“Elise, you, me. Our lives are back to front. Your future’s my past. Your firsts are my lasts.”

“That’s not really what I asked.”

“Ask something else, then.”

“What are the Silence doing, raising a child?” His eyes flickered down to Elise who was staring at the spacesuit.

River’s did the same. “Keeping her safe, even giving her independence.”

“The only way to save Amy is to work out what the Silence are doing.”

“I know,” Rory said.

“And every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer.”

“Yeah, Doctor, I get it. I know.”

“Of course, it’s possible she’s not just any little girl.”

“Well, I’d say she’s human, going by the life support software,” River said.

“But?”

“She climbed out of this suit. Like she forced her way out. She must be incredibly strong.”

“Incredibly strong and running away. I like her.”

“We should be trying to find her.”

“Yes, I know. But how? Anyway, I have the strangest feeling she’s going to find us.”

“Apollo 11, this is Houston. How do you read? Over.” A broadcast was playing on a small TV nearby.

“Why does it look like a NASA spacesuit?” Rory asked.

“Because that’s what the Silence do. Think about it. They don’t make anything themselves. They don’t have to. They get other life forms to do it for them,” the Doctor said.

“So they’re parasites, then?” River asked.

“Superparasites, standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behavior any way they want. If they’ve been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years…”

“Then what?” Rory asked.

“Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the Moon?”

“Ten, nine. Ignition sequence start. six, five, four…”

“Because the Silence needed a spacesuit.”

“One, zero. All engines running. Liftoff. We have a liftoff. Thirty two minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11.”

River was scanning the suit when it started twitching. Elise jumped back. “This suit, it seems to be repairing itself. How’s it doing that? Doctor, a unit like this, would it ever be able to move without an occupant?” River asked.

“Why?”

“Well, the little girl said the spaceman was coming to eat her. Maybe that’s exactly what happened.”

The Doctor looked over at Rory, who was listening to Amy talk through the recorder. He walked over to him and sat down.

Elise looked at them.

“What’s on your mind, little star?” River asked her.

“Falling in love.”

“Falling in love isn’t always wonderful, you know?”

“I think it sounds amazing.”

River reached down and petted Elise’s hair. “Don’t worry, little star. You’ll find him one day.”

Elise looked up at her. “When?”

River smiled. “One day.”

Finally, the day came that they would rescue Amy. The Doctor, Elise, Rory, and River stepped out of the TARDIS.

“Oh, interesting. Very Aickman Road. I’ve seen one of these before,” the Doctor said.

The room they were in looked exactly like the spaceship above Craig’s flat.

Elise briefly wondered how he and Sophie were. Maybe one day she’d find out.

“Abandoned. I wonder how that happened? Oh, well I suppose I’m about to find out. Rory, River, keep one Silent in eye-shot at all times. Elise, stay by the TARDIS. Oh, hello. Sorry, you were in the middle of something. I just had to say, though, have you seen what’s on the telly?”

The Doctor picked up a television and set it on the console. “Oh, hello, Amy. Are you all right? Want to watch some television? Ah. Now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I’m confident. You want to watch that, me, when I’m confident. Oh, and this is my friend River. Nice hair, clever, has her own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn’t mind shooting people. I shouldn’t like that. Kind of do, a bit.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” River said.

“I know you’re team players and everything, but she’ll definitely kill at least the first three of you.”

River backed up to where he back was touching the Doctor’s. “Well, the first seven, easily.”

“Seven? Really?”

“Oh, eight for you, honey.”

“Stop it.”

“Make me.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe I will.”

“Is this really important flirting? Because I feel like I should be higher on the list right now.”

Rory ran over to Amy and was trying to unlock her bindings.

“Yes. Right. Sorry. As I was saying, my naughty friend here is going to kill the first three of you to attack, plus him behind, so maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz. Or maybe you could just listen a minute. Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender and then I’ll let you go in peace. Yes, you’ve been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died, but what’s the point in two hearts, if you can’t be a bit forgiving, now and then?”

The Doctor was standing toe to toe with a Silence. “Ooo, the Silence. You guys take that seriously, don’t you? Okay, you got me. I’m lying. I’m not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it’s not Christmas. First, you tell me about the girl.” The Doctor turned on the TV. “Who is she? Why is she important? What’s she for?”

“And we’re getting a picture on the TV.”

“Guys, sorry, but you’re way out of time. Now, come on. A bit of history for you. Aren’t you proud? Because you helped. Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion. And that’s nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years, and every single one of them at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it.”

“Okay, engine stop. ATA on the descent. Modes control both auto. Descent engine command off.”

“Oh. But they’ll forget this bit.” The Doctor took out his phone. “Ready?”

“That’s one small step for a man…”

A Silence appeared on the TV screen. “You should kill us all on sight.”

“You’ve given the order for your own execution, and the whole planet just heard you,” the Doctor told them.

“One giant leap for mankind.”

“And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence! You just raised an army against yourself and now, for a thousand generations, you’re going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today’s the day the human race throw you off their planet. They won’t even know they’re doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you’re looking for right now is oops. Run! Guys, I mean us. Run.”

The Silence started producing electricity from its body and River started shooting.

“I can’t get her out!” Rory yelled.

“Run! Into the TARDIS, quickly!” River yelled.

The Doctor ran over to Amy and Rory and soniced her bindings.

Rory and Amy dodged electricity as they ran back to the TARDIS.

“Don’t let them build to full power,” the Doctor said.

“I know! There’s a reason why I’m shooting, honey!” River yelled, “What are you doing?”

“Helping.”

“You’ve got a screwdriver. Go build a cabinet!”

“That’s really rude!”

“Shut up and drive!”

The Doctor ran into the TARDIS.

River spun around in circles until all the Silence were dead. She flipped her gun around and put it in her holster. “My old fellow didn’t see that, did he? He gets ever so cross,” River said.

“So, what kind of doctor are you?” Rory asked her.

“Archaeology”. She pulled out her gun and shot a Silence that was coming up behind her, all without looking. “Love a tomb.” She ruffled Elise’s hair as they went inside.

River ran up to the console and started throwing levers.

“You can let me fly it,” the Doctor told her.

“Yeah, or we could go where we’re supposed to.”

Elise smiled.

River looked at her and picked her up, setting her on her hip. As River flew the TARDIS, she explained to Elise what every button and lever did.

“Don’t worry. In a few years, you can fly it yourself.”

They stepped out into the Oval Office.

The Doctor walked up to Nixon, who shook his hand.

“So we’re safe again,” Nixon said.

“Safe? No, of course you’re not safe. There’s about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world,” the Doctor told him, “But, if you want to pretend you’re safe, just so you can sleep at night? Okay, you’re safe. But you’re not really.”

He turned to Canton and shook his hand. “Canton. Until the next one, eh?”

“Looking forward to it.”

The Doctor turned back to the President. “Canton just wants to get married. Hell of a reason to kick him out of the FBI.”

“I’m sure something can be arranged.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Er, Doctor. Canton here tells me you’re, you’re from the future. It hardly seems possible, but I was wondering…”

“I should warn you I don’t answer a lot of questions.”

“But I’m a president at the beginning of his time. Dare I ask? Will I be remembered?”

“Oh, Dicky. Tricky Dicky. They’re never going to forget you. Say hi to David Frost for me.”

They all stepped back into the TARDIS and took off. Their next stop was Stormcage.

“You could come with us,” the Doctor told her.

“I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to. You’ll understand soon enough.”

“Okay. Up to you. See you next time. Call me.” The Doctor started to walk back to the TARDIS.

“What, that’s it? What’s the matter with you?” River asked.

The Doctor walked back over to her. “Have I forgotten something?”

River smiled. “Oh, shut up.” She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

The Doctor stood there awkwardly. “Right. Okay. Interesting,” he said when she pulled away.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting like we’ve never done that before.”

“We haven’t.”

“We haven’t?”

“Oh, look at the time. Must be off. But it was very nice. It was, it was good. It was er, unexpected.” He walked back to the TARDIS and opened the door. “You know what they say. There’s a first time for everything.” He went inside, leaving Elise with River.

“And a last time.”

Elise reached out and wrapped her hand around River’s.

River smiled and looked down at her. “Don’t worry about me, little star. I’ll be alright.” She knelt down in front of her. “Be good for your father, okay?”

Elise nodded.

“There’s something on your mind,” River said.

“Can’t you tell me about him?” River smiled.

“He has blue eyes. The most beautiful blue you’ve ever seen.”

Elise smiled. “Like mine!”

“Yes, like yours.”

“Elise!” Rory called, “Come on.”

Elise tapped River’s forehead lightly with her own and then ran back to the TARDIS. She yawned as she stepped onto the platform. Her father picked her up and kissed her head.

“Sleepy, eh?”

Elise nodded.

“Why don’t you get ready for bed? I’ll be there in a bit to tuck you in.”

He set her down and Elise made her way to her bedroom. She walked over to her desk and pulled out her sketchbook. She searched through her colored pencils and found a blue one that matched the color of her eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

They stepped out of the TARDIS on to what appeared to be a ship.

“Doctor, are you sure we’re in the right place?” Rory asked.

“This is where the distress signal lead.”

They found a hatch and the Doctor knocked. He pushed it open and a group of pirates stood there. “Yo ho ho!” he said, excitedly, “Or does nobody actually say that?”

The Captain and a couple of his crew members took them to the Captain’s quarters and the Doctor explained why they were there.

“We made no signal,” the Captain said.

“Our sensors picked you up. Ship in distress.”

“Sensors?”

“Yes. Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother.”

“That big blue crate?”

Elise glared at the Captain. The TARDIS was not a crate.

Rory hit her on the shoulder and she stopped.

“That is more magic, Captain Avery. They’re spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?” his first mate asked.

“Well, er, I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won’t go there. Look, I’m the Doctor. This is Amy, Rory, and Elise. We’re sailors, same as you.” He stepped forward and punched Avery’s shoulder. “Ooo arrr.” When he turned around, Avery was pointing a gun at him. “Except for the gun thing. And the beardiness.”

“You’re stowaways! Only explanation. Eight days, we’ve been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed,” Avery said.

“Now what do we do with ‘em?” the first mate asked.

“Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality.”

They took them all up on deck.

The Doctor was standing on the plank as the pirates laughed.

Elise was struggling against the pirate that held her.

“I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description. Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard,” the Doctor ranted.

“Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don’t need three more empty bellies to fill. Take the doxies below to the galley. Set them to work. They won’t need much feeding,” Avery ordered.

“Rory? A little help?” Amy asked as she and Elise backed away from the pirate in front of them. Elise wished River had given her a blaster or something.

“Yeah. Hey, listen, right? She’s not a doxy and neither is Elise,” Rory asked.

“I didn’t mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway.”

The pirate shoved Elise and Amy below deck.

“Now what?” Elise whispered.

Amy looked around and found a crate full of swords. She grabbed one and handed a smaller one to Elise.

It was more of a dagger than sword.

Next, Amy grabbed a coat and a hat and they made their way back up on deck.

“I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they’re going to jump out and shout boo,” the Doctor said.

“Boo!” Amy yelled.

The pirates spun around.

“Throw the gun down,” she said.

Avery did and she kicked it away from him.

“The rest of you, on your knees,” she ordered. “

Amy, what are you doing?” the Doctor asked. The Doctor noticed Elise was holding a small dagger as well.

“Saving your life. Okay with that, are you?” Amy asked.

“Put down the sword. A sword could kill us all, girl,” Avery said.

“Yeah, thanks. That is actually why I’m pointing it at you.”

The pirates rushed forward, trying to knock the sword from Amy’s hands. Any time she got close to them with the sword, they backed away from her.

Amy ran up some steps and swung across on a rope. She slashed at the pirate who was holding Rory earlier.

“You have killed me,” he said.

“No way. It’s just a cut. What kind of rubbish pirates are you?” Amy asked.

“One drop, that’s all it takes. One drop of blood and she’ll rise out of the ocean,” Avery explained.

“Come on, I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?”

A pirate came towards Amy and she tried to swing past him, but he grabbed her. She dropped the sword.

Rory tried to grab it, but cut his hand in the process. “Ow!” A black spot appeared on his hand. “Er, Doctor, what’s happening to me?” he asked.

“She can smell the blood on your skin. She’s marked you for death,” Avery said.

“She?”

“A demon, out there in the ocean.”

“Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We’ve managed to bagsy a ship where there’s a demon popping in,” the Doctor said. He looked at Rory’s hand. “Very efficient. I mean, if something’s going to kill you, it’s nice that it drops you a note to remind you.”

Suddenly, there was singing.

“Quickly now, block out the sound,” the first mate said.

“What?” Rory asked.

“The creature. She charms all her victims with that song,” Avery explained.

“Oh, great. So put my fingers in my ears, that’s your plan? Doctor, come on. Let’s go. Let’s get back to the…back to the…” Rory and the other pirate started giggling.

“The music. It’s working on him. Look,” the first mate said.

Rory turned to Amy, swaying a bit. “You are so beautiful.”

“What?” Amy asked him.

“I love your get up. That’s great. You should dress as a pirate more often. Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate.”

“Rory, stop.”

“Everything is totally brilliant, isn’t it? Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards. I’d like a beard. I’m going to grow a beard.”

“You’re not.”

“The music turns them into fools,” Avery said.

Amy froze. “Oh, my God.”

They all turned to see a bright light rising up out of the water.

A woman flew out of the sea and landed on deck.

The pirate walked towards her while Amy tried to hold Rory back. When the pirate touched her, he exploded.

Elise gasped.

“I have to touch her. Let me touch her,” Rory begged.

“Sorry, but he is spoken for,” Amy told her.

The woman turned red and blasted Amy back.

Elise and the Doctor ran to her.

“Amy! Everybody into the hold. Rory! Come on!”

The Doctor grabbed Rory and pulled him down below deck.

“Hey! Wait! Get off!” Rory yelled.

They now stood in ankle deep water. Of course it was higher on Elise.

The Doctor grabbed the dagger out of Elise’s hand. “Give me that.” He chucked in across the room.

“What is that thing?” Amy asked, wrapping her arms around Rory.

“The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She’s been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured,” Avery explained.

“Like a shark. A shark can smell blood,” the first mate said.

“Okay. Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green? A green singing shark in an evening gown,” the Doctor ranted.

“The ship is cursed!” Avery insisted.

“Yeah, right. Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening but you can’t be bothered to find an explanation.”

“She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Rory said.

The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder a few times.

“Actually, I think you’ll find she isn’t,” Amy told him.

“She is.”

“We have to leave right now.”

“That thing of yours really is a ship?” Avery asked.

“Well, it’s not propelled by the wind,” the Doctor said.

Avery pulled out his gun and pointed it at the Doctor. “Show me. Weigh anchor. Make it sail.”

“And the gun’s back. You’re big on the gun thing, aren’t you? Freud would say you’re compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa.”

Elise patted his hand. She could go for a comfy sofa right now too.

“Leave the cursed one, Captain. The creature can have him,” one of the pirates said.

“Yes, please,” Rory agreed.

“We don’t want the siren coming after us,” Avery told him.

One of the pirates started screaming and he pulled his leg out of the water.

“It’s a leech!” Amy exclaimed.

“Everyone out of the water!” the Doctor yelled.

The Doctor picked Elise up and set her on top of a crate.

“It’s bitten me. I’m bleeding,” the pirate said.

“She wants blood. Why does she want blood?” the Doctor asked.

“What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?” Amy quipped.

“It’s okay, we’re safe down here. No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber.”

The Siren appeared behind the Doctor.

“Oh! Ah. Hello again,” he said.

The pirate started to go towards her, despite everyone yelling at him not to. He touched her and exploded, leaving only his hat behind.

The Doctor grabbed the hat and ushered everyone into the bunk room.

“Safe?” Amy asked.

“I have my good days and my bad days,” he told her.

“How did she get in?” Avery asked.

The Doctor soniced the pirate’s hat. “Bilge water. She’s using water like a portal, a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water.”

“Well, thank God we’re not in the middle of the ocean,” Amy snapped.

“Did you see her eyes?” Rory asked, “Like crystal pools.”

“You are in enough trouble.”

“The magazine,” Avery said.

“What?” Amy asked.

“He means the armory where the powder’s stored,” the Doctor explained.

“It’s dry as a bone,” Avery said.

“Good. Let’s go there.”

Avery aimed his gun at the Doctor again. “I give the orders.”

“Ah. Worried because I’m wearing a hat now? Nobody touch anything sharp!”

Everyone followed the Doctor and Avery.

The first mate was looking through his keys.

“Quickly, man,” Avery told him.

“I can’t find the key. Tis gone, Captain.”

“How can it have gone?”

The Doctor pushed open the door. “Someone else had the same idea.”

They went inside.

“Barricade the door. Careful of that lantern. Every barrel is full of powder,” Avery said.

“Who’s been sleeping in my gun room?” the Doctor asked.

There was a coughing noise coming from a barrel.

Avery opened it and pulled out a young boy around Elise’s age. “You fool!” Avery yelled, “You fool, boy. What are you doing here?”

“Who is he?” the first mate asked.

“What, he’s not one of the crew?” the Doctor asked.

“No. He’s my son.” Avery put him down. “What in God’s name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you.”

The boy looked away.

“When?” Avery asked.

“Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. An honorable man, she said. How I’d be proud to know you.” He coughed. “I’ve come to join your crew.”

“I don’t want you here,” Avery told him.

Elise glared at Avery. How could he not want his own son with him? The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, making circles with his thumb to calm her.

“You can’t send me back. It’s too late. We’re a hundred miles from home,” Avery’s son said.

“It’s dangerous here. There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men’s skin.”

“The black spot?” He showed them the palm of his hand and then coughed.

The Doctor nudged Elise. She knew what that meant. Elise walked over to him nervously playing the braids in her hair.

The adults had stepped away to talk.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hello.”

“What’s your name?”

“Toby.” He coughed again.

“I’m Elise.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Toby coughed and started wheezing.

“Sounds like you need a drink of water,” Elise said. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver, searching for a barrel with fresh water.

They found one and Toby pulled the top off.

Elise screamed as the Siren’s hand shot out.

The Doctor grabbed the lid and forced it back down.

“The water’s dangerous. That’s how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you’re a dead man,” Avery said.

“We’re all cursed if we stay aboard,” the first mate told them.

“It’s not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we’re helpless. We are not helpless. Captain, what’s our next move?” the Doctor asked.

Avery looked at the Doctor and then at his son. He pulled out a medallion attached to a string and put it around Toby’s neck. “Wait with the boy.”

“Captain, we’re all in danger here,” the first mate said.

“I said wait. And barricade the door after we’ve gone.”

“Sure you want to go?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“We have to get Rory and Toby away. She’s out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese.”

Food sounded really good right about now.

“Okay… Well, remember, if you get an itch, don’t scratch too hard.”

“We’ve all got to go some time. There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid.”

The Doctor looked down at Elise. He petted her hair before leaning down to kiss her head.

Amy put a hand on her shoulder as the Doctor and Avery left.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve made it to the double digits! I am so excited for the next chapter! I’ve got an emotional scene planned that will forever change the relationship between Elise and the Doctor.

Elise watched as Amy paced back and forth.

“What’s wrong?” Rory asked her.

“The most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Oh, tell me I didn’t really say that.”

Amy laughed at his embarrassment.

The first mate and the other pirate started to break down the barricade in front of the door.

“What’s going on?” Amy asked them.

“We’re not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain’s gone soft. It’s time for us to leave,” the first mate told her.

Elise and Toby stood up.

“He told you to wait, you dog. He’s your Captain, a Naval Officer. You’re honor-bound to do as he tells you,” Toby said.

“Honor-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?” the first mate asked him.

Amy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stroked the back of his head. “Don’t listen to him, Toby.”

“We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger.”

“Liar! He’s no wicked pirate!” Toby yelled.

“Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men.”

“Get what treasure you can. I’ll meet you in the row boat,” the first mate told his fellow pirate.

Toby rummaged around and found a sword. “You’re going to remain at your post,” he told them.

“I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down.”

“One more step and I’ll use this, you blaggard.”

Elise admired Toby’s bravery.

“You don’t know how to fight with a cutlass, boy.”

“Don’t need to, do I.” He swiped down and cut the first mate on the hand.

“No. You little swabber!”

“Congratulations. You made it to the menu. Probably shouldn’t go out there now,” Amy told him.

“You scurvy ape!” The first mate pulled out his gun.

“Don’t shoot. The powder will blow and kill us all,” Rory said.

The other pirate took the keys from the first mate’s belt. “Mulligan, what are you doing?” he said.

Mulligan left.

“No honor among pirates,” Amy said.

The first mate put down his gun and started to rebuild the barricade.

Elise wished she had her sketchbook or something with her. She was bored and wondering what was taking her father and Avery so long.

Toby, who sat next to her, pulled off the medallion around his neck and started to polish it with a piece of cloth.

Suddenly, there was banging on the door.

“Amy! Open the door!” the Doctor yelled.

“Toby, open the door! Toby!” Avery yelled.

Rory and Amy ran to the door to deconstruct the barricade.

The door opened the Doctor grabbed the medallion. He started to breathe on it, quickly clouding the surface. The Doctor ran out of the room with Avery following, leaving Amy, Rory, Elise, and Toby standing there confused.

They soon came back in.

“Now what?” Amy asked.

“Now we wait,” the Doctor told them.

“Just wait?” Rory asked.

“Not my most dynamic plan, I realize.”

“TARDIS?” Amy asked.

“It’s been towed.”

“What?”

“Sorry. We might be stuck here for a while.”

“So you’re saying that we should all just wait here below?” Rory asked.

“The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she’ll rise up and attack you,” Avery said.

“It’s okay. The calm won’t last forever,” the Doctor told them, “When the wind picks up we’ll all set sail.”

“Until it does, you have to hide down here.”

Avery joined the Doctor and Elise up on deck.

The Doctor was teaching Elise about the stars.

Avery looked up at the night sky.

“It’s not one star, it’s two. The Dog Star, Sirius. Binary system,” the Doctor said.

“I use it to navigate the ocean,” Avery told him.

“I’ve traveled far, like you. Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you.” The Doctor looked down at Elise, who smiled at him. “

If we get out of this I’ll take him back to England. He can’t stay with me. I’m not the father he needs.”

“Who are you, Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wandering the oceans with a band of rogues?”

“I’ve set my course now. Nothing I can do to alter it.”

“People stared at it for centuries and never knew. Things can suddenly change, when you’re least expecting.” The Doctor patted Avery on the chest before he and Elise went down to the captain’s quarters. The Doctor stopped and looked at the windows he had smashed.

Elise looked at him and then looked at the windows. She got a prickling feeling at the top of her spine.

“Doctor? Elise?” Amy asked, coming up behind them.

“Shush.”

“What can you see?”

“Feels like something’s out there, staring straight at me.”

There was a crash of thunder and then lightning.

“Man the sails!” the Doctor yelled, running up on deck.

Elise and Amy ran after him.

Soon, they were being pelted by rain.

“To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails. Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!” Avery yelled.

Amy and Rory ran to a set of ropes and started pulling on them.

“I swear he’s making half this stuff up!” Amy yelled.

“Well, we’re going to need some kind of phrase book!” Rory yelled back.

The Doctor stood at the wheel, directing the ship.

Elise clung to his legs.

“Toby! Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy. Heave ho, you bilge rats!” Avery yelled.

“Rats was all I could hear!” Rory yelled back.

Toby came towards his father with the coat when a golden crown fell out and rolled across the deck.

The Siren shot out of the crown and flew up into rigging, before coming down to the deck.

“Don’t let her take you!” Avery yelled.

Toby walked towards the Siren with his hand out.

“No!” Avery yelled.

Elise let go of the Doctor and ran towards Toby.

“Elise!”

She grabbed onto Toby as he touched the siren. Elise opened her eyes and found she was in a med bay, much like the one on the TARDIS. She’d only been once. She’d been sharpening her charcoals and sliced her hand open.

The Siren was hooking Toby up to machines as she ignored Elise. The Siren disappeared and a second later, appeared with Rory.

“Rory!” Elise yelled, running towards them.

The Siren turned red when she got near him.

“I’m sorry,” Elise told her. Elise stepped back and the Siren calmed down.

The Siren floated off to somewhere else.

A few minutes later, the doors to the med bay opened.

“Daddy!” Elise yelled, running towards him.

“Elise!” The Doctor caught her in his arms. “You’re okay.” He placed several kissed on her hair before he put her down.

“McGrath! He’s one of my men,” Avery said.

“He’s still breathing,” Amy observed.

“My entire crew is here. Toby!”

Amy spotted Rory. “Rory!”

“Toby!” Avery said, running over to his son.

“The TARDIS!” the Doctor yelled. He ran towards the plastic sheeting and threw it aside. He’d never been happier to see the big little blue box.

“We have to get him out of here,” Avery said.

“Wait,” the Doctor told him. He scanned Toby with his screwdriver. “His fever’s gone.” He walked over to Rory and scanned him.

“He looks so well,” Amy said.

“She’s keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It’s not a curse, it’s a tissue sample,” the Doctor told her, “Why get samples of people you are about to kill?”

“Help me get him up.”

The Doctor started to unhook Rory from the machines.

They started beeping rapidly.

“She’s coming,” the Doctor said.

Rory was starting to wiggle around on the metal bed.

The Doctor, Amy, Avery, and Elise hid behind some monitors as the Siren floated in. As she sang her song, Rory went back to sleep.

“Anesthetic”, the Doctor realized.

“What?” Amy asked.

“The music. The song. So she anesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis.”

The Siren floated over to Toby.

Avery stepped out with his gun raised.

“Avery, no!” the Doctor yelled.

Avery fired his gun and the Siren turned red like when Elise had tried to come near Rory.

The Siren advanced on Avery until the Doctor sneezed. The Siren produced a beam of fire between her hands as she came towards the Doctor.

Amy held Elise back from running over to him.

“Fire. That’s new. What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilize! I sneezed. I’ve brought germs in.” The Doctor pulled out a handkerchief. He sneezed into it before throwing it on the floor.

The Siren blasted it with fire.

Amy used this distraction and ran to Rory. The Siren started going towards Amy now.

“Amy, stop. Don’t interfere. Don’t touch him. Anesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. Ignore all my previous theories!”

“Yeah? Well, we stopped paying attention a while back.”

“She’s not a killer at all, she’s a doctor!”

Amy stopped messing with the Rory’s tubes and the Siren returned to her normal state.

“This is an automated sick bay,” the Doctor said, “Its teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It’s been looking after humanity whilst it’s been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room.”

“Able to burn your face off,” Amy reminded him.

“She’s just an interface, seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form, and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you are good.”

Amy reached for Rory and the Siren turned red again.

“She won’t let us take them,” Avery said.

“She’s keeping them alive, but she doesn’t know how to heal them,” the Doctor explained.

“I’m his wife, for God’s sake. Why can’t I touch him?” Amy asked.

“Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring.” The Doctor grabbed Amy’s hand. “She may be virtual but she’s intelligent. You can’t do anything without her consent. Come on. Sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program.”

“Look, he’s very ill, okay? I just want to look after him. Why won’t you let me near my husband?” A tear fell from Amy’s eye and the Siren cocked her head to side.

The Siren held out her hand and a circle of light appeared around it.

“Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light. Rory’s sick. You have to take full responsibility,” the Doctor told her.

Amy did and the Siren disappeared. Amy turned off Rory’s life support and he immediately started gasping for breath.

“He can’t breathe. Turn it back on,” the Doctor said.

She did and Rory went back to sleep.

“What do we do? I can’t just leave him here.”

“He’ll die if you take him out,” Avery said.

“Rory? Rory, wake up,” Amy cooed, stroking his hair.

“Where am I?” Rory asked.

“You’re in a hospital. If you leave, you might die,” the Doctor told him.

“But if you don’t, you’ll have to stay forever,” Amy added.

“You’re saying that if I don’t get up now…?” Rory asked.

“You can never leave.”

“The Siren will keep you safe,” the Doctor said.

“And if I come with you?” Rory asked.

“Drowning, on the point of death.”

“I’m a nurse.”

“What?” Amy asked.

“I can teach you how to save me.”

“Whoa. Hold on.”

“I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me.”

“Just?”

“You’ve seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life.”

“Rory, this isn’t a film, okay? What if I do it wrong?”

“You won’t.”

“Okay, what if you don’t come back to life? What if…?”

“I trust you.”

Amy looked at the Doctor who was walking over to Avery. “What about him? I mean, why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?”

“Because I know you’ll never give up. I know you can do this. Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross. And dead.”

“I’ll see you in a minute.”

The Doctor looked at Amy and nodded. He ripped off the restraints and Rory started gasping for breath.

Amy and the Doctor lifted him up and carried him into the TARDIS.

Elise walked over to Toby and Avery. “Goodbye Toby,” she said. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his hair.

“Take care of him,” Avery said.

Elise nodded, knowing he was talking about her father. Elise entered the TARDIS as Rory started coughing up water.

“Amy. Amy, you did it. You did it!” Rory told her. He sat up and they hugged.

The Doctor smiled and walked up the stairs to the platform. “Did you say goodbye?” the Doctor asked Elise.

She nodded.

“Don’t feel like talking?”

Elise shook her head.

The Doctor sighed internally. He missed the days when Elise was loud and outspoken. He hoped she found her voice soon.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve enjoyed writing this episode so much! I hope you like it too!

“And then we discovered it wasn’t the Robot King after all, it was the real one. Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head,” the Doctor told Rory, who was sitting in the pilot seat.

Amy came down the stairs.

“Do you believe any of this stuff?” he asked her.

“I was there.”

Elise smiled from her spot on the stars where she was sketching the TARDIS rotor.

“Oh, it’s the warning lights. I’m getting rid of those! They never stop!” the Doctor yelled, kicking the console. At one point in time, Elise would have yelled at him for it. But she ignored him.

There was suddenly a knock on the TARDIS door.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“The door. It knocked,” the Doctor said.

“Right. We are in deep space,” Rory reminded him.

“Very, very deep”.

The knocking came again.

“And somebody’s knocking.”

Elise briefly wondered if it was River coming for a visit.

The Doctor opened the doors.

There was a small glowing box floating outside.

“Oh, come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty.” The Doctor reached out for it, but before he could touch it it flew inside and darted around the console. It slammed into the Doctor’s chest.

“A box?” Rory asked.

“Doctor, what is it?” Amy asked.

The Doctor picked up the box. “I’ve got mail!” He ran up to the console. “Timelord emergency messaging system. In an emergency, we’d wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. Anyway, there’s a living Timelord still out there, and it’s one of the good ones.”

“You said there weren’t any other Timelords left. Besides you and Elise,” Rory said.

“There are no Timelords left anywhere in the universe. But the universe isn’t where we’re going. See that snake? The mark of the Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn’t feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooo, she was a bad girl.”

The console sparked and popped.

“Oh, what is happening?” Rory asked.

“We’re leaving the universe!” the Doctor yelled.

“How can you leave the universe?” Amy asked.

“With enormous difficulty! Right now I’m burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some welly. Goodbye, swimming pool. Goodbye, scullery. Sayonara, squash court seven.”

The console continued to spark as Amy screamed.

The TARDIS landed and everything went quiet.

“Okay, okay. Where are we?” Amy asked.

“Outside the universe, where we’ve never, ever been,” the Doctor told them.

The lights in the TARDIS started to go out.

“Is that meant to be happening?” Rory asked.

“The power, it’s draining. Everything’s draining. But it can’t. That’s, that’s impossible,” the Doctor said.

“What is that?”

“It’s as if the Matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished. Where would it go?”

They stepped out into a junkyard.

“So what kind of trouble’s your friend in?” Amy asked.

“He was in a bind. A bit of a pickle. Sort of distressed,” the Doctor told her.

“Ah, you can’t just say you don’t know.”

“But what is this place? The scrap yard at the end of the universe?” Rory asked.

“Not end of, outside of,” the Doctor said. He threw his arm around Rory’s shoulder as Amy rifled through some junk.

“How we can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything.”

“Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside.”

“Okay.”

“Well, it’s nothing like that.”

The Doctor tapped the doors of the TARDIS. “Completely drained. Look at her.”

“Wait. So we’re in a tiny bubble universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe?” Amy asked.

“Yeah. No. But if it helps, yes. This place is full of rift energy. She’ll probably refuel just by being here. Now, this place. What do we think, eh?” the Doctor picked up a rock and threw it.

“Gravity’s almost Earth normal, air’s breathable, but it smells like…”

“Armpits,” Amy supplied.

The Doctor jumped inside a bathtub. Was he incapable of standing still for one second? “Armpits.”

“What about all this stuff? Where did this come from?” Rory asked. He twirled a light fixture.

“Well, there’s a rift. Now and then stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we’ve just fallen down it.”

“Thief! Thief! You’re my thief!” A woman ran towards the Doctor. She was wearing a ratty blue dress.

A man and an older woman followed.

“She’s dangerous. Guard yourselves,” the older woman said.

The younger woman ran up to the Doctor, frantically touching his arms and chest. “Look at you. Goodbye. No, not goodbye, what’s the other one?” She launched herself on the Doctor, kissing him.

The man pulled her off the Doctor, who was wiping his lips and running a hand through his hair in shock. “Watch out. Careful. Keep back from her. Welcome, strangers. Lovely. Sorry about the mad person,” the man told them.

“Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?” the Doctor asked.

“Me. You’re going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Oh tenses are difficult, aren’t they?”

The woman walked over to Amy and played with the ends of her hair. Something about her felt familiar to Elise. Like she knew her from somewhere. “Oh! Look at you!” the woman said, kneeling in front of Elise.

“Oh. Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She’s off her head. They call me Auntie,” the older woman, Auntie told them. She stepped forward and shook the Doctor’s hand.

The man did the same. “And I’m Uncle. I’m everybody’s Uncle. Just keep back from this one. She bites!”

“Do I? Excellent,” the woman said. She grabbed the Doctor and bit him on the ear.

“Ow! Ow!”

“Biting’s excellent. It’s like kissing, only there’s a winner.”

“So sorry. She’s doolally,” Uncle said.

“No, I’m not doolally. I'm…I'm…It’s on the tip of my tongue. I’ve just had a new idea about kissing. Come here, you.” She reached for the Doctor, who ran and hide behind Amy and Rory.

“No, Idris, no,” Auntie said, grabbing her.

“Oh, but now you’re angry. No, you’re not. You will be angry. The little boxes will make you angry.” The woman, Idris, looked at Elise. “And you. You’re going to learn something that is going to make you sad. Sad and angry.”

“Sorry? The little what? Boxes?” the Doctor asked.

Idris started laughing. “Your chin is hilarious!” She turned to look at Rory. “It means the smell of dust after rain.”

“What does?”

“Petrichor.”

“But I didn’t ask.”

“Not yet. But you will.”

“No, no, Idris. I think you should have a rest,” Auntie told her.

“Rest. Yes, yes. Good idea. I’ll just see if there’s an off switch.” Idris collapsed.

The Doctor and Rory caught her, setting her down on a chair nearby.

“Is that it? Is she dead now?” Uncle asked, “So sad.”

“No, she’s still breathing,” Rory told him.

“Nephew, take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people.”

The Doctor turned around. “Oh, hello!”

Amy, Rory, and Elise turned around as well. Amy jumped back and hid Elise behind her.

The alien was wearing a jumpsuit. It was bald and had tentacles where its mouth should be.

“Doctor, what is that?” Amy asked.

“Oh, no, it’s all right. It’s an Ood. Oods are good. Love an Ood. Hello, Ood.” The Doctor approached the Ood. “Can’t you talk? Oh, I see. It’s damaged. May I?” He picked up the white ball attached to the jumpsuit and disassembled it. “It might just be on the wrong frequency.”

“Nephew was broken when he came here. Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us,” Auntie explained.

The Doctor got the ball working again and a voice came out of it.

“If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Tell them that I am still alive. I don’t know where I am. I’m on some rock-like planet.”

Several other voices were trying to come through as well.

“What was that? Was that him?” Rory asked.

“No, no. It’s picking up something else. But that's…that’s not possible. That's…that's… Who else is here? Tell me. Show me. Show me!” the Doctor demanded.

“Just what you see. Just the four of us, and the House,” Auntie told him, “Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can’t hurt nobody?”

“The House? What’s the House?”

“House is all around you, my sweets.”

Uncle jumped up and down where he stood.

“You are standing on him. This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?”

“Meet him?” Rory asked.

The Doctor hushed him. “I’d love to.”

“This way. Come, please. Come.”

Auntie and Uncle walked off.

“What’s wrong? What were those voices?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Timelords. It’s not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of Timelords.” He took Elise’s hand and they hurried after Auntie and Uncle.

They led them into a spaceship.

“Come. Come, come,” Uncle told them, “You can see the House and he can look at you, and he…”

The Doctor walked over towards them and looked into metal grating on the floor. “I see. This asteroid is sentient.”

“We walk on his back, breathe his air, eat his food,” Auntie said.

“Smell its armpits,” Amy commented.

A deep, sophisticated voice came out of Auntie and Uncle. “And do my will. You are most welcome, travelers.”

“Doctor, that voice. That’s the asteroid talking?” Amy asked.

“Yes. So you’re like a sea urchin. Hard outer surface, that’s the planet we’re walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that’s you.”

“That is correct, Timelord,” House said.

“Ah. So you’ve met Timelords before?”

“Many travelers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break.”

“So there are Timelords here, then?”

“Not anymore, but there have been many TARDIS’s on my back in days gone by.”

“Well, there won’t be any more after us. Last Timelords. Last TARDIS.”

“A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest, feed, if you will.”

Auntie and Uncle relaxed, now back to normal.

“We’re not actually going to stay here, are we?” Rory asked.

“Well, it seems like a friendly planet. Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?” the Doctor asked Auntie, Uncle, and Nephew.

“You can look all you want. Go. Look,” Auntie said. She walked up to Amy and touched her face and hair. “House loves you.”

“Come on then, gang. We’re just going to, er, see the sights.”

They quickly left the spaceship.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been waiting for this chapter because it has one my favorite moments that I’ve ever written in it.

As the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Elise were exploring they heard, “Thief!”

“Shush, shush, shush,” the Doctor said as they stopped.

“So, as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?” Rory asked.

“No. There are Time Lords here. I heard them and they need me.”

“You told me about your people, and you told me what you did,” Amy said.

Elise didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“Yes, yes, but if they’re like the Corsair, they’re good one and I can save them.”

“And then tell them you…?” Amy trailed off looking at Elise. She knew the Doctor still hadn’t told her about what he had done.

“I can explain. Tell them why I had to.”

“You want to be forgiven.”

“Don’t we all?”

Amy nodded. “What do you need from me?”

“My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. It’s in my jacket.”

“You’re wearing your jacket,” Rory commented.

“My other jacket.”

“You have two of those? Can’t you just use Elise’s?”

“Hers doesn’t have all the apps I need.”

“Okay, I’ll get it. But Doctor, listen to me. Don’t get emotional because that’s when you make mistakes,” Amy told him.

He gave her a lazy salute. “Yes, boss.”

Amy tossed him her mobile phone. “I’ll call you from the TARDIS. Rory, look after him.” Amy walked off.

“Rory, look after her.”

The Doctor and Elise continued exploring.

“Daddy?” Elise asked.

“Yes Ellie?”

“What happened to the Timelords?”

The Doctor froze in his tracks. He’d been avoiding that question for years now.

“You always say that we’re the last of the Timelords. How is that possible?”

The Doctor knelt down in front of her. “Elise, you have to understand something. What I did…”

Elise looked at him confused.

“Do you remember the Naismith Mansion?”

Elise nodded.

“You escaped something called the Timelock. It was a device designed to trap the Time War in a moment. We can never go back to Gallifrey because it doesn’t exist anymore. There are only two Timelords left in the universe. Me and you.” The Doctor watched as her blue eyes filled with tears.

“So they’re all gone? Everyone?”

“I’m sorry.” Elise sniffled and wiped her face, trying to hold back the tears. Her entire family, all her friends. They were all gone and she’d never see them again.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her as she started crying. “I am so sorry,” he told her.

Elise tried pulling away from him, hitting him on the chest and shoulders.

The Doctor continued to hold her as she let out her anger and sadness. He never meant to do this to her. He never thought he’d have to face the result of his decision. If he regretted what he had done before, he regretted it even more knowing that he taken everything from the girl he now called his daughter.

The Doctor pulled her away from him to look her in the eye. “Ellie, listen to me. What I did, I did to stop it all. I regret it every minute of every day. I ask myself if I could have done something differently. I know apologies will never bring them back, but you are the most important thing to me. You are my entire universe. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. As long as I am alive, I will protect you.”

Elise sniffled and he kissed her head.

Amy’s phone started ringing in the Doctor’s pocket. He stood up and answered it. “Yeah, it’s around somewhere. Have a good look.” He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket and pressed the button, locking the TARDIS door.

Elise and the Doctor continued to search House.

“Come on. Where are you? Now, where are you all? Where are you?” the Doctor asked. He closed his eyes and honed in on the whispers of the Timelords. He pulled back a curtain and revealed a small alcove. “Well, they can’t all be in here.”

Elise could hear the voices now.

The Doctor opened a cupboard and found the message boxes.

“Please do you read me?” “Structural integrity failure. Damage to dimensional stabilizer.” “If you can hear, come and help.”

Elise didn’t recognize any of the voices, but her hearts broke for them.

Auntie and Uncle came up behind them.

“Just admiring your Timelord distress signal collection. Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here, but this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from the long dead.” The Doctor turned to face them. “How many Timelords have you lured here the way you lured me, and what happened to them all?”

“House. House is kind and he is wise,” Auntie said.

“House repairs you when you break! Yes, I know!”

Elise could tell the Doctor was becoming increasingly angry.

“But how does he mend you?” He scanned Uncle. “You’ve got the eyes of a twenty year old.”

“Thank you.”

“No. Oh, no, I mean it literally. Your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you.” He pulled off Uncle’s hat, revealing two mismatched ears. “Your ears don’t match, your right arm is two inches longer than you’re left, and how’s your dancing? Because you’ve got two left feet. Patchwork people. You’ve been repaired and patched up so often, I doubt there’s anything left of what used to be you. I had an umbrella like you once.” The Doctor grabbed Auntie’s forearm.

It had the same tattoo as the box. A snake eating its tail.

“Oh, now, it’s been a great arm for me, this.”

“Corsair.”

“He was a strapping big bloke, wasn’t he, Uncle?”

“Big fellow,” Uncle agreed.

“I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys.”

“Kidneys.”

“You gave me hope, and then you took it away. That’s enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me. Basically, run!”

Auntie took off.

“Poor old Timelord. Too late. House is too clever,” Uncle told them. He walked off as Amy’s phone started ringing.

“Timelord stuff. Needed you out of the way. The boxes will make you angry. How could she know? Stay put. Stay exactly where you are.” He hung up and took off running.

They found Idris sitting there in a cage.

The Doctor walked up to the bars. “How did you know about the boxes? You said they’d make me angry. How did you know?”

“Ah, it’s my thief and my little survivor.”

“Who are you?”

“It’s about time.”

“I don’t understand. Who are you?”

“Do you not know me? Just because they put me in here?”

“They said you were dangerous.”

“Not the cage, stupid. In here.” Idris raised up on her knees and put her hands on her face. “They put me in here.” She placed her hands on the bars and looked up at him, her face framed by the bars. “I’m the… Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go…”

The sound of the TARDIS came out of her mouth.

“The TARDIS?” the Doctor asked.

Elise smiled. That’s why she felt so familiar!

“Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Yes, that’s it. Names are funny. It’s me.” Idris stood up. “I’m the TARDIS.”

The Doctor turned away from her and paced. “No, you’re not. You’re a bitey, mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box.”

“Yes, that’s me. A Type Forty TARDIS. I was already a museum piece when you were young, and the first time you touched my console you said…”

“I said you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known.”

“And then you stole me. And I stole you.”

“I borrowed you.”

“Borrowing implies the intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give you back?”

The Doctor slowly turned back to her. “You’re the TARDIS?”

“Yes.”

“My TARDIS?”

Elise hit him on the leg.

“Sorry. Our TARDIS”.

“My Doctor and my little Survivor. Oh. We have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the lock.” Idris stepped back from the bars and the Doctor soniced the cage door. Idris stepped out and walked up to the Doctor. “Are all people like this?” she asked.

“Like what?”

“So much bigger on the inside. I'm…Oh, what is that word? It’s so big, so complicated. It’s so sad.”

“But why? Why pull the living soul from a TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?”

Idris circled the Doctor, sniffing him. “Oh, it doesn’t want me.”

“How do you know?”

“House eats TARDIS’s.”

“House what? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s something I heard you say.”

“When?”

“In the future.”

“House eats TARDIS’s?”

Elise giggled at their back and forth. It almost like watching him and River go at it.

“There you go.” Idris put her finger on his lips. “What are fish fingers?”

“When do I say that?” “Any second.” She took her finger off his lips.

“Of course. House feeds on rift energy and TARDIS’s are bursting with it. And not raw, all lovely and cooked. Processed food. Mmm, fish fingers.”

“Do fish have fingers?”

“But you can’t eat a TARDIS. It would destroy you. Unless, unless…”

“Unless you deleted the TARDIS Matrix first.”

The Doctor laughed. “So it deleted you.”

“But House can’t just delete a TARDIS’s consciousness. That would blow a hole in the universe. So he pulls out the Matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and then it feeds off the remaining Artron energy.” Idris gasped. “You were about to say all that. I don’t suppose you have to now.”

“I sent Amy and Rory in there. They’ll be eaten.” The Doctor pulled out Amy’s phone and flipped it open. “Amy! Amy? Rory? Get the hell out of there!” He took off running, leaving Elise with Idris.

“Are you really the TARDIS?” she asked.

“Of course I am.”

“What color is my blanket?”

“It’s blue of course. With gold threads in the shape of the stars.”

Elise smiled and hugged Idris.

Idris stroked Elise’s brown hair. She loved the little Timelord like the Doctor did.

As a daughter.


	13. Chapter 13

The Doctor joined Idris and Elise after a few minutes.

Auntie and Uncle were back.

“It’s gone.”

“Eaten?” Idris asked.

“No, it left. Not eaten, hi-jacked. But why?”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Again?”

Idris laughed at the young Timelord’s sass.

“It’s time for us both to go, Unkie, together,” Auntie said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go? What do you mean, go? Where are you going?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, we’re dying, my love. It’s time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off.”

“I’m against it,” Uncle added.

Auntie sat down on a pile of junk and Uncle sat down in chair next to her. “It’s your fault, isn’t it, sweets? Because you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can’t feed on them if there’s none more coming, can he?”

“So now he’s off to your universe to find more TARDIS’s.”

“It won’t,” the Doctor told them.

“Oh, it’ll think of something,” Auntie said and fell over.

The Doctor ran over to her and checked her while Elise and Idris just looked on.

“Actually, I feel fine,” Uncle said. He stood up and then fell over, dead.

“Not dead. You can’t just die!” the Doctor yelled, exasperated.

“We need to go to where I landed, Doctor, quickly,” Idris told him.

“Why?”

Idris stood up. “Because we are there in three minutes. We need to go…now.” She started to leave, but then bent over in pain. “Ow!”

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“Idris?” Elise said.

“Roughly how long do these bodies last?” Idris asked.

The Doctor scanned her with his screwdriver. “You’re dying.”

“What? No!” Elise said as Idris snatched his sonic screwdriver out of his hand.

“Yes, of course I’m dying. I don’t belong in a flesh body. I could blow the casing in no time. No, stop it.” Idris saw the look on both the Doctor and Elise’s faces.

“Don’t get emotional. Hmm. That’s what the orangey girl says. You’re the Doctor and you’re Elise. Focus.” She held out his screwdriver to him.

“On what? How? I’m a madman with a box, without a box.” He took the screwdriver from her. “I’m stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard! Ooo.”

“Ooo what?”

“I’m not.”

“Not what?”

“Because it’s not a junkyard. Don’t you see? It’s not a junkyard.”

“What is it then?”

“It’s a TARDIS junkyard. Come on!” He started to run off, but then stopped and turned back to Idris and Elise. “Oh, sorry. Do you have a name?”

“Seven hundred years, finally he asks.”

“But what do I call you?”

“I think you call me Sexy.”

The Doctor’s eyes went wide and he looked around. “Only when we’re alone.”

Idris narrowed her eyes playfully. “We are alone.”

“Oh. Come on then, Sexy.” He grabbed Idris’ hand and they started running.

“Oi!” Elise yelled, running after them.

“Oh hush! You were included in that!” the Doctor yelled back.

They soon came to the junkyard where the Doctor had initially parked the TARDIS. The Doctor ran around scanning the area with the screwdriver until they came to a valley.

Elise’s mouth dropped open. Was this what TARDIS’s were supposed to look like? She preferred their TARDIS as a police box.

“A valley of half eaten TARDIS’s. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m thinking that all of my sisters are dead. That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses,” Idris said.

The Doctor and Elise looked at her.

Well that was a grim thought.

Suddenly, Elise saw the bodies of her friends and family. She quickly shook her head to rid herself of the thought.

“Ah. Sorry. No, I wasn’t thinking that.”

“No. You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don’t care that it’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible as long as we’re alive. Rory and Amy need me.” The Doctor took Elise’s hand in his. “Come along, Ellie. We’re going to build a TARDIS.”

Soon enough they had built a shell of a control room.

Elise had no idea how the Doctor was supposed to fly it. These controls looked like nothing she’d ever seen before.

Idris picked up a control off the ground. “Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter.”

“Yes, yes, I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know. I know what I’m doing.” He was tugging a piece of wall with a piece of cord.

“You’re like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom. And you never read the instructions.”

“I always read the instructions.”

“There’s a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for seven hundred years. What does it say?”

“That’s not instructions!”

“There’s an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?”

“Pull to open.”

“Yes. And what do you do?”

“I push!”

“Every single time. Seven hundred years. Police Box doors open out the way.” The Doctor threw down his cord and stalked towards Idris.

Elise immediately got a flash of her father stalking towards her mother, his hand raised. “NO!” Elise screamed, jumping in front of Idris. Her hearts were beating out of her chest as she stared at the Doctor.

“I’m not going to harm her, Elise. I promise.”

But Elise didn’t trust him. Not after what he told her. Elise shook her head.

“It’s okay, little one,” Idris told her.

It broke the Doctor’s hearts to know Elise had expected him to hit Idris. Had she really lost her faith in him so easily?

“I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want,” the Doctor said.

“Your front doors? Have you any idea how childish that sounds?”

The Doctor turned away from her. “You are not my mother.”

“And you are not my child.”

The Doctor rounded on her.

Elise stayed firmly placed between the two adults, not allowing the Doctor within three feet of Idris.

“You know, since we’re talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable.”

“And you have?”

“You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go.” The Doctor turned to walk away again.

Idris’ voice shook as she spoke. “No, but I always took you where you needed to go.”

“You did.” The Doctor spun around and bounced up towards Idris and Elise, his anger forgotten. “Look at us talking! Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could always talk, even when you’re stuck inside the box?”

“You know I’m not constructed that way. I exist across all space and time, and you talk and run around and bring home strays. Of course I don’t mean you, Elise.” Idris’ knees gave out and the two Timelord’s caught her.

“You okay?” the Doctor asked.

“One of the kidneys has already failed. It doesn’t matter. We need to finish assembling the console.”

“Using a console without a proper shell. It’s not going to be safe.” The Doctor half-expected a sarcastic quip to come out of Elise’s mouth before remembering that this Elise was not that Elise.

“This body has about eighteen minutes left to live. The universe we’re in will reach absolute zero in three hours. Safe is relative,” Idris told him.

The Doctor walked over to the section of wall he had been towing and grabbed the cord again. “Then we need to get a move on. Eh, old girl?”

Idris held her side as she watched him.

Elise looked up at Idris.

“It’ll be okay,” she told her, “Everything will work out in the end.”

About an hour later, the console was nearly complete.

“You’ll need to install the time rotor,” Idris said, rifling through some junk.

The Doctor did as she said. This rotor wasn’t an eccentric as the one in their TARDIS, but it would do. “How is this going to make it through the rift? How? We’re almost done.” The Doctor ran around the console inspecting it. “Thrust diffuser? Er, retroscope. Blue thingy.”

“Do you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?” Idris asked.

“I chose you. You were unlocked.”

“Of course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Timelord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough.”

The Doctor bounced over to her side. “Right. Perfect. Look at that. What could possibly go wrong?”

A control fell off the console, causing Elise to roll her eyes.

“That’s fine. That always happens. No, hang on. Wait.” The Doctor grabbed a couple pieces of red ropes with hooks on the end. He hooked them onto the console so that they stood on the inside of them.

“Right. Okay, let’s go. Follow that TARDIS!” He pulled on the wire hanger that was working as a makeshift lever, but nothing happened. “Oh no, come on. There’s rift energy everywhere. You can do it. Okay, diverting all power to thrust. Let’s be having you.” He wound a control.

All the console did was spark.

“No, no, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Idris asked. She was admiring herself in a mirror.

“It can’t hold the charge. It can’t even start. There’s no power.” He covered the mirror with his hand. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Oh, my beautiful idiot. You have what you’ve always had. You’ve got me.” She kissed her finger, transferring golden energy into the console. Elise smiled hearing the familiar wheezing of the TARDIS engines as they dematerialized.

Elise hung onto the console for dear life as they hurtled through the rift.

The Doctor whooped happily.

“We’ve locked on to them. They’ll have to lower the shields when I’m close enough to phase inside,” Idris told him.

“Can you get a message to Amy? The telepathic circuits are online.”

“Which one’s Amy? The pretty one?” Idris stood in front of the mirror as she spoke. “Hello, Pretty.”

“What the hell is that?” Rory’s voice asked.

“Don’t worry. Telepathic messaging. No, that’s Rory,” the Doctor said.

“You have to go to the old control room. I’m putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields,” Idris told him.

“The pretty one?” the Doctor asked.

“You’ll have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix. I’ll send you the pass key when you get there. Good luck.” She cut the telepathic connection.

“How’s he going to be able to take down the shields anyway?” the Doctor asked, “The House is in the control room.”

“I directed him to one of the old control rooms.”

“There aren’t any old control rooms. They were all deleted or remodeled.”

“I archive them, for neatness. I’ve got about thirty now.”

“But I’ve only changed the desktop, what, a dozen times?”

“So far, yes.”

“You can’t archive something that hasn’t happened yet.”

“You can’t.”

“Keep going. You’re doing it, you sexy thing!”

“See, you do call me that. Is it my name?”

“You bet it’s your name!”


	14. Chapter 14

Idris connected with Rory again and gave him the passkey. “Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor.” A few second later, Idris said, “They did it! Shields down.” She connected with Rory once again. “We’re coming through. Get out of the way or you’ll be atomized.”

“Where are you coming through?”

“I don’t know.”

They could see the TARDIS.

“It’s not going to hold!”

They materialized inside the control room.

“Doctor!” Amy said, running over to him and hugging him.

Elise looked around. This was the old control room. “Dad! This is it! The old control room!” she said, running over to one of the Y-Beams.

It was the Y-Beam she’d held onto while they were crashing after he regenerated. That Y-Beam had pretty much saved her life.

“Not good. Not good at all”, Idris said, standing up, “How do you walk around in these things?”

The Doctor helped her sit down on the platform.

“We’re not quite there yet. Just hold on. Amy, this is, well, she’s my TARDIS. Except she’s a woman. She’s a woman, and she’s my…our…TARDIS.”

“She’s the TARDIS?”

“And she’s a woman. She’s a woman and she’s the TARDIS.” The Doctor poked her in the cheek.

“Did you wish really hard?”

“Shut up. Not like that.”

Idris stood up. “Hello. I'm…Sexy.”

Amy and Rory looked at him.

“Oh. Still shut up!”

“The environment has been breached. Nephew, kill them all,” House said.

Rory jerked around, looking. “Where’s Nephew?”

“He was standing right where you materialized,” Amy told them.

“Ah. Well, he must have been redistributed,” the Doctor said.

“Meaning what?” Rory asked.

“You’re breathing him.”

Amy groaned in disgust. “Oh, come on.”

In their defense, it wasn’t the grossest thing to happen to them. They had been puked up by a Star Whale.

“Another Ood I failed to save,” the Doctor commented.

“Doctor. I did not expect you,” House said.

“Well, that’s me all over, isn’t it? Lovely old unexpected me.”

“The big question is, now you’re here, how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity.”

They were all pulled to the floor.

House released them and Rory ran over to Idris.

“Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke.”

Elise’s lungs felt like they were going to burst.

“You really don’t want to do that!” the Doctor yelled.

The air returned to the room.

“Why shouldn’t I just kill you now?”

Rory had his fingers on Idris’ neck, counting her pulse.

“Because then I won’t be able to help you. Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don’t have the thrust and you know it. Right now I’m your only hope for getting out of your little bubble through the rift, and into my universe. And mine’s the one with the food in. You just have to promise not to kill us. That’s all, just promise.”

“You can’t be serious,” Amy told him.

“I’m very serious. I’m sure it’s an entity of its word.”

“Doctor, she’s burning up. She’s asking for water,” Rory said.

The Doctor and Elise rushed to Idris’ side.

The Doctor cupped her cheek with one hand while he entwined his fingers of the other with hers.

Elise held her other hand.

“Hey. Hang in there, old girl. Not long now. It’ll be over soon,” he told her.

“I always liked it when you call me old girl.”

“You want me to give my word?” House asked, “Easy. I promise.”

“Fine. Okay. I trust you,” the Doctor said, “Just delete, oh er, thirty percent of the TARDIS rooms, you’ll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate subroutine Sigma nine.”

“Why would you tell me this?”

The Doctor stood up. “Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I’m nice.”

“Yes. I can delete rooms. And I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor. Very helpful. Goodbye, Timelords. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris.”

There was a bright light and they were standing in the normal control room.

“Yes. I mean, you could do that, but it just won’t work. Hardwired fail safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room. But thanks for the lift.”

“We are in your universe now, Doctor. Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I’ve killed hundreds of Timelords.”

“Fear me. I’ve killed all of them.”

“I don’t understand. There isn’t a forest in here,” Rory told Idris. He looked at Elise, who shrugged.

“Yeah, you’re right. You’ve completely won,” the Doctor said.

Rory looked at him confused.

Elise, too, wondered what he was doing. What kind of plan he had.

“Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us allow me, Elise, and our friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent.” He pulled Amy up from where she was sitting on the stairs.

They both started clapping.

“Congratulations,” Amy told him.

“Yep, you’ve defeated us. Me and my lovely friends here, and last but definitely not least, the TARDIS Matrix herself, a living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body. And look at her.”

“Doctor, she’s stopped breathing,” Rory told him.

“Enough. That is enough,” House said.

“No. It’s never enough! You forced the TARDIS into a body so she’d burn out safely a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can’t hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House.”

“And you think I should mourn her?”

“No. I think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room.”

Golden energy started to come out of Idris’ mouth.

“You took her from her home. But now she’s back in the box again, and she’s free!”

The golden energy fused into the console, attacking House.

“No. Doctor, stop this. Argh! Stop this now.”

“Oh, look at my girl. Look at her go! Bigger on the inside! You see, House?”

“Make her stop.”

“That’s your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you are just so small!”

“Make it stop.”

“Finish him off, girl.”

“Ow. Don’t do this! Argh!”

The control room went dark, the only light coming from Idris. The soul of the TARDIS was standing on the stairs.

“Doctor, Elise, are you there? It’s so very dark in here.”

The Doctor took Elise’s hand and the two Timelord’s stepped up to her.

“We’re here.”

She followed the sound of his voice and looked down. “I’ve been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I’ve found it now.”

“What word?”

“Alive. I’m alive!”

“Alive isn’t sad.”

“It’s sad when it’s over. I’ll always be here, but this is when we talked, and now even that has come to an end. There’s something I didn’t get to say to you.”

Tears were gathering in the Doctor’s eyes.

Elise rubbed the back of his hand with hers to try and comfort him.

“Goodbye?” His voice was barely a whisper.

“No. I just wanted to say hello. Hello, Doctor. And you. My little Survivor. It’s so very, very nice to meet you.”

Tears were shining in Idris’ eyes as she smiled.

Tears were threatening to stream down the Doctor’s cheeks and his bottom lip trembled. “Please. I don’t want you to. Please.”

They stepped back as Idris faded away.

The Doctor sniffled and turned to the console. He lifted Elise up into his arms and hid his face in her hair.

Elise let down her mental barriers and flooded his mind with love and affection to comfort him.

Idris was right.

Everything would be okay.

The Doctor was working under the console again. Wires hung down around him as he sat in his swing with his goggles on.

“How’s it going under there?” Rory asked.

“Just putting a firewall around the Matrix. Almost done,” the Doctor said.

“Are you going to make her talk again?” Amy asked.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” Rory asked, coming down the stairs.

“Spacey wacey, isn’t it?” Amy quipped.

“Well, actually, it’s because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleventh dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then…”

Rory took two cables and touched them together, causing them to spark.

“Yes, it’s spacey wacey!”

Rory held his hands up in defense.

The Doctor took his goggles off.

“Sorry. At the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something. I don’t know what it meant.”

“What did she say?”

“The only water in the forest is the river. She said we’d need to know that someday. It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“Not yet. You okay?”

“No. I watched her die. I shouldn’t let it get to me, but it still does. I’m a nurse.”

“Letting it get to you. You know what that’s called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that’s all that counts. Nearly finished. Two more minutes, then we’re off.” The Doctor sat back down in his swing. He swung lightly back and forth as he spoke. “The Eye of Orion’s restful, if you like restful. I can never really get the hang of restful. What do you think, dear? Where shall we take the kids this time?”

“Look at you pair,” Amy said, “It’s always you and her, isn’t it, long after the rest of us have gone. A boy and his box, off to see the universe.”

Elise frowned. Why wasn’t she included with that? She supposed it was because in reality, she’d only been with the Doctor for a few years.

He’d been traveling for well over 700, according to the TARDIS.

But she promised that as long as she was alive, she’d never leave his side.

“Well, you say that as if it’s a bad thing. But honestly, it’s the best thing there is.”

The console sparked.

“The House deleted all the bedrooms. I should probably make you two a new bedroom. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Amy and Rory talked quietly amongst themselves for a few seconds.

“Okay. Er, Doctor, this time could we lose the bunk beds?” Amy asked.

“No. Bunk beds are cool. A bed with a ladder. You can’t beat that.”

Amy and Rory looked at him, annoyed.

“It’s your room. Out those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop.”

“Doctor, do you have a room?” Rory asked.

Amy pulled him away.

“You should probably be getting to bed, too,” the Doctor told Elise, “You may be a Timelord, but you’ve had trying day. You could use some sleep.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Course I will.”

Elise finally stood up and walked over to him. She put her hand on his cheek, playing back the TARDIS saying hello.

He gave her soft smile and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry about me,” he told her, “Now, off to bed.”

Elise playfully rolled her eyes. “Goodnight daddy.” She turned to walk up the stairs.

“Goodnight, Survivor.”

Elise paused and looked back at him.

“When a Timelord graduates the Academy, they choose a name. I chose the Doctor. It’s a sort of promise you make to yourself,” he told her, “I took that from you, but you’re still a Timelord. The TARDIS is a smart girl. All you’ve ever done is survive, so it suits you.”

Elise smiled and continued up the stairs. She walked until she found her room. It was exactly how she’d left it. “Thanks, Sexy.”


	15. Chapter 15

Loud music played through the speakers in the console.

It was some rock song that Elise had never heard by a human band she’d never heard of. Elise decided she didn’t like Rock n’ Roll.

Amy and Rory played darts while Elise was sitting on the stairs sketching Idris while the Doctor stood in front of the monitor.

“Forty six. Rubbishy, rubbishy, rubbish,” Amy told Rory.

Elise rolled her eyes. She’d never understand human games. She and the Doctor played football sometimes when the Ponds were sleeping and she wasn’t too tired.

“Hello? It’s a double top,” Rory argued.

“Wrong side of the wire, mister.”

“You’re on the oche, Red.”

The music abruptly cut off.

“Who wants fish and chips?” the Doctor asked.

Rory raised his hand. “I’ll drop you both off. Take your time. Don’t rush.”

“Er, and you?” Rory asked.

Elise had once again been forgotten. Maybe she needed to speak up more.

“Things to do. Things involving other things.”

“Well, we’ll stay with you. We’ll do the other things,” Amy said, joining the Doctor on the platform.

“Nope.”

“Whatever you’re up to, I’d personally like to be a part of it.”

The Doctor looked at her apprehensively.

“What?”

An alarm went off and the TARDIS lurched.

Elise was thrown from stairs. The Doctor grabbed her before her face could slam into the console.

“Solar tsunami. Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation. Big, big, big.”

The Doctor pulled levers as he tried to direct the TARDIS.

“Oh Doctor, my tummy’s going funny,” Rory moaned.

“Well, the gyrator disconnected. Target tracking is out. Assume the position!”

“What does that mean?!” Elise yelled.

“Do I what do,” Amy told her. Amy ran to the jump seat and put her head between her knees.

Elise copied her.

Rory knelt down on the platform and did the same.

The TARDIS landed and everything was quiet.

The Doctor jumped up. “Textbook landing.”

They made their way to the TARIDS doors and the Doctor threw them open. “Behold, a cockerel! Love a cockerel.”

They all stepped out.

“And underneath, a monastery. Thirteenth century.”

“Oh, we’ve gone all medieval,” Amy commented.

“I’m not sure about that,” Rory told her.

“Really? Medieval expert are you?”

“No, it’s just that I can hear Dusty Springfield.”

There was indeed music coming from the monastery.

The Doctor knelt beside a hole with an exposed pipe. “These fissures are new. Solar tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This is caused by a magnetic quake that occurs just before the wave hits.”

“Well, the monastery’s standing,” Amy said.

The Doctor took a snowglobe out of his jacket and shook it. Elise failed to see how that helped anything. “Yeah, for now.”

“Doctor, look,” Rory told him.

“Yeah. It’s a supply pipe.” The Doctor scanned it with his screwdriver. “Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They’re pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland.”

“My mum’s a massive fan of Dusty Springfield,” Rory commented.

“Who isn’t? Right, let’s go. Satisfy our rabid curiosity.”

The Doctor and Amy took off for the steps leading to the monastery. Rory and Elise cautiously followed after them. The steps led to a courtyard.

“So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?” Amy asked as the Doctor scanned their surroundings.

“I think we’re here. This is it.”

“Doctor, what are you talking about? We’ve never been here before.” Rory said.

“Hmm?”

“We came here by accident?” Amy reminded him.

The Doctor turned to face them. “Accident? Yes, I know. Accident.”

Rory reached out to touch one of the pipes, only to yank his hand back. “Ow!”

“Acid. They’re pumping acid off this island. That’s old stuff,” the Doctor reassured him, “Fresh acid, you wouldn’t have a finger.”

Amy inspected Rory’s hand as the Doctor walked off.

“Intruder alert. Intruder alert.”

The Doctor walked back to them. “There are people coming. Well, almost.”

“Almost coming?” Amy asked.

“Almost people.”

Amy and the Doctor ran off.

“I think we should really be going,” Rory said.

Elise nodded, agreeing with him.

“Come on!” Amy yelled.

“I’m telling you. When something runs towards you, it is never for a nice reason.”

Amy grabbed onto his jacket, pulling him after her.

Elise ran to catch up with them.

They ran into a room full of people in harnesses.

“What are all these harnesses for?” Amy asked.

“The almost people?” Rory guessed.

“What are they, prisoners, or are they meditating, or what?”

“Well, at the moment they fall into the “or” what category,” the Doctor told them.

“Halt and remain calm.”

“Well, we’ve halted. How are we all doing on the calm front?”

A group of people, the same people in the harnesses, came running into the room. They were all brandishing spears of some kind.

“Don’t move!” a man told them.

“Stay back, Jen. We don’t know who they are,” another said.

“So let’s ask them. Who the hell are you?” Jen asked.

“Well, I’m the Doctor, and this is Amy, Elise, and Rory, and it’s all very nice, isn’t it?”

“Hold up. You’re all. What are you all? Like identical twins?” Amy asked them.

Two people in odd looking suits came down a set of stairs.

“This is an Alpha Grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble,” the woman said. She seemed to be in charge.

“Actually, you’re in big trouble,” the Doctor said, pulling out his psychic paper.

The woman snatched it out of his hand.

“Meteorological Department? Since when?”

“Since you were hit by a solar wave.”

“Which we survived.”

“Just, by the look of it. And there’s a bigger one on the way.”

“Which we’ll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs.”

“Backs against the wall. Now,” one of the men in the orange suits said.

The Doctor, Elise, Amy, and Rory did as they said.

“You’re not a monastery, you’re a factory. Twenty second century army-owned factory,” the Doctor said.

“You’re army?” Amy asked.

Elise smirked as she remembered Amy in Churchill’s bunker.

“No, love. We’re contractors, and you’re trespassers,” the woman said.

“It’s clear, boss,” Dicken told her.

“All right, weatherman, your ID checks out.” She held out the psychic paper as the Doctor came towards her. “If there’s another solar storm, what are you going to do about it? Hand out sunblock?”

The Doctor took it from her and laughed. “I need to see your critical systems.”

“Which one?”

“You know which one.”

The woman, named Cleaves, led them into room with a vat full of a milky white substance.

“And there you are,” the Doctor said, wonder in his voice.

“Meet the government’s worst kept secret,” Cleaves said, “The Flesh. It’s fully programmable matter. In fact, it’s even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level.”

“Right. Brilliant. Lost,” Amy said.

“Okay. Once a reading’s been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything. Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything’s identical. Eyes, voice…”

“Mind, soul?” the Doctor added.

Elise’s eyes met his. She narrowed them, wondering what he was up to. What was he thinking? She knew by the way he was acting that they hadn’t landed there by accident. An idea hit Elise. Was this to do with Amy? She’d seen the Doctor scanning Amy for pregnancy, but the monitor couldn’t make up its mind.

“Don’t be fooled, Doctor. It acts like life but it still needs to be controlled by us, from those harnesses you saw,” Cleaves told him.

“Wait, whoa. Hold it. So, you’re Flesh now?” Rory asked.

“I’m lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here. Don’t be scared. This thing, just like operating a forklift truck.”

“You said it could grow. Only living things grow,” the Doctor said.

“Moss grows. It’s no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now we mine the acid using these doppelgangers. Or Gangers,” Cleaves explained, “If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid…”

“Then who the hell cares, right, Jen?” Buzzer, one of the men, asked.

“Nerve endings automatically cut off like airbags being discharged. We wake up and get a new Ganger,” Jennifer said.

Rory nodded, understanding.

“It’s weird, but you get used to it,” the other man, Jimmy, commented.

“Jennifer, I want you in your Ganger. Get back to the harness,” Cleaves ordered.

Jennifer left as the Doctor scanned the Flesh.

“Hang on, what’s he up to? What you up to, pal?” Buzzer asked.

“Stop it.” The Doctor jerked his hand back and pocketed his screwdriver. “Strange. It was like for a moment there it was scanning me.” He placed his hand on the surface.

“Doctor…Get back, Doctor! Leave it alone,” Cleaves told him.

He finally pulled his hand back. “I understand.”

“Doctor? Are you all right?” Amy asked.

“Incredible. You have no idea. No idea. I mean, I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it, and it to me.”

“Don’t fiddle with the money, Doctor,” Cleaves said, her tone patronizing.

“How can you be so blinkered? It’s alive. So alive.”

It finally dawned on Elise.

“You’re piling your lives, your personalities directly into it.”

There was flash from outside and the monastery shook.

“It’s the solar storm. The first waves come in pairs. Pre-shock and fore-shock. It’s close,” the Doctor said.

“Buzzer, we got anything from the mainland yet?” Cleaves asked.

“No, the comms are still too jammed with radiation.”

“Okay. Then we’ll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop. Now why don’t you stand back and let us impress you?”

Elise did not like Cleaves one bit.


	16. Chapter 16

One of the smaller tanks in the room began filling with Flesh and a copy of Jennifer sat up. She shot up and everyone jumped back.

“Well, I can see why you keep it in a church. Miracle of life,” the Doctor said.

Elise thought it was amazing.

“No need to get poncey. It’s just gunge,” Buzzer commented.

“How can you say that?” Elise asked before she could stop herself, “Look at her! She’s a living, breathing, human being!”

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. Internally he was jumping for joy. There was the Elise he remembered.

“Guys, we need to get to work,” Cleaves told her team.

“Okay, everybody, let’s crack on,” Jimmy said.

There was a crack of thunder and lightning.

“Did I mention the solar storm?” the Doctor reminded them, “You need to get out of here.”

“Where do you want us to go? We’re on a tiny island.”

“Well, I can get you all off it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve got a job to do,” Cleaves told him.

The Doctor pulled the snowglobe out of his jacket again. “It’s coming.”

A shrill alarm started going off.

“That’s the alarm,” Jennifer said.

“How do you get power?” the Doctor asked.

“We’re solar. We use a solar router. The weathervane,” Cleaves told him.

“Big problem.”

“Boss, maybe if the storm’s back we should get underground,” Jimmy suggested, “The factory’s seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit.”

“We have two hundred tons of acid to pump out. We fall behind, we stay another rotation. Anyone want that?” Cleaves asked.

The Doctor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the tank. “Please, you are making a massive mistake here. You’re right at the crossroads of it. Don’t turn the wrong way. If you don’t, if you don’t prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger. Understand?”

“My factory, my rules.”

“I need to check the progress of the storm.” The Doctor turned to Jennifer. “Monitoring station?”

Jennifer looked at him, not sure if she should answer or not.

“Monitoring station,” he reiterated. He was in no mood to argue.

“Three lefts, a right and a left. Third door on your left.”

“Thank you.”

Amy, Rory, and Elise hurried after him all the while the building shook with the force of the solar storm.

The Doctor went straight for the controls. “Waves disturbing the Earth’s magnetic field. There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges. See this weathervane, the cock-a-doodle-do? It’s a solar router feeding the whole factory with solar power. When that wave hits, ka-boom. I’ve to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose.”

He started to run out of the room when he turned back to them. He smiled. “I never thought I’d have to say that again. Amy, breathe.” He turned back around and ran through the corridor.

“Yeah! I mean, thanks. I’ll try!” she called after him.

The three of them ran back into the Flesh room before the Monastery went dark.

Elise sat up and rubbed her head. Amy and Rory were passed out next to her. Apparently, she had landed between them.

Rory’s eyes opened. “Oh. For want of a better word, ow!”

Elise jumped up.

“Elise what is it?” Amy asked.

“Cleaves’ team!”

Rory and Amy got to their feet, found some portable lights, and made their way to the harness room.

Buzzer was being helped down from his harness. “I feel like I been toasted,” he said.

“What the hell happened?” Jimmy asked.

“The tsunami happened. You hurt?” Amy asked them.

“It feels like the National Grid’s run through my bones but apart from that…”

“I hope the meter’s not bust. I still want to get paid,” Buzzer said.

Elise rolled her eyes. “We have bigger things to worry about than that.”

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. Why was everyone trying to tell her to be quiet?

Rory ran over to Jennifer who was crying and hugged her. Amy looked over at them in jealousy.

Elise took her hand and said, “Rory loves you.”

Amy smiled at the young Timelord. “Thanks, Elise.”

The Doctor and Cleaves ran into the room. The Doctor ran over to Elise, checking her over for injuries.

“I’m fine, daddy,” she told him.

“Doctor, these are all real people, so where are their Gangers?” Amy asked.

“Don’t worry. When the link shuts down the Gangers return to pure Flesh,” Cleaves reassured them, “Now, the storm’s left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time.”

The Dusty Springfield song from earlier started up again.

“That’s my record. Who’s playing my record?” Jimmy asked.

“Your Gangers. They’ve gone walkabout,” the Doctor said.

Cleaves shook her head. “No, it’s impossible. They’re not active. Cars don’t fly themselves, cranes don’t lift themselves and Gangers don't…”

They followed the sound of the record into the dining hall. It was a mess.

“No way,” Buzzer said.

“I don’t, I don’t believe this,” Cleaves added. The poor woman looked like she was about to pass out.

“They could’ve escaped through the service door at the back,” Jimmy suggested.

“This is just like the Isle of Sheppey,” Buzzer told them.

The Doctor sat down at the table. “It would seem the storm has animated your Gangers.”

“They’ve ransacked everything,” Cleaves said.

“Not ransacked, searched.”

“Through our stuff!”

“Their stuff.”

“Searching for what?” Jimmy asked.

“Confirmation. They need to know their memories are real.”

“Oh, so they’ve got flaming memories now?” Buzzer scoffed. He was really starting to get on Elise’s nerves, but Elise kept her mouth shut. No one was listening to her anyway.

“They feel compelled to connect to their lives,” the Doctor told them.

“Their stolen lives,” Cleaves said.

“No, bequeathed. You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets, everything. You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them?”

“I’ll say it again. Isle of Sheppey. Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator right there in his harness,” Buzzer told them, “I’ve seen the photos. This bloke’s ear was all hanging…”

Jimmy cut him off. “Even if this has actually happened, they can’t remain stable without us plumbed in to them, can they, boss?”

Cleaves looked at him. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Jennifer gasped and grabbed onto the table she was standing next to.

“Are you okay? Do you need some water?” Rory asked, going into nurse mode.

“I feel funny. I need the washroom.”

“I’ll come with you.” Rory followed her out.

Dicken sneezed, causing Amy to jump.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Oh! That’s okay.”

The Doctor stared at the card tower on the table.

“That’s me. It’s good to have a hobby,” Buzzer told him, “So what, my Ganger did that all on its own?”

“Who taught you to do this?”

“My granddad.”

“Well, your Ganger’s granddad taught him to do it, too. You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear, just as real.”

Buzzer shook his head and destroyed the card tower. “No.”

“Scared, disorientated, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads.”

“We need to protect ourselves,” Jimmy said.

The Doctor popped a meal into the microwave.

Elise narrowed her eyes at him. How could he think about food at a time like this?

“Are you a violent man, Jimmy?” he asked.

“No.”

“Then why would the other Jimmy be?”

“Don’t tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor,” Cleaves said, voicing what Elise was thinking.

“You told me we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves, when in fact it was an hour.”

“Sorry, I just assumed…”

“Well, it’s not your fault. Like I said, they’re disoriented. Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in harness?”

“Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out.”

“Jennifer?”

“She was standing on her own when we got to her.”

The microwave dinged and the Doctor handed the plate to Cleaves.

Elise’s eyes widened, realizing what the Doctor was doing.

“It’s hot,” the Doctor told her.

Cleaves quickly dropped the plate.

The Doctor took Cleaves’ hand, looking at her palm. “Trans-matter’s still a little rubbery. Nerve endings not quite fused properly.”

Cleaves yanked her hand out of his. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s okay.”

“Why didn’t I feel that?”

“You will. You’ll stabilize.”

“No, stop it. You’re playing stupid games. Stop it!” She turned away from them.

“You don’t have to hide. Please, trust me. I’m the Doctor.”

She spun around, her face now completely Ganger.

Buzzer grabbed a knife, but Jimmy held him back. “Where’s the real Cleaves, you thing? What have you done with her?” he spat.

“That’s it. Good, you remember. This is early Flesh. The early stages of the technology. So much to learn.”

“Doctor, what’s happened to her?” Amy asked.

“She can’t stabilize. She’s shifting between half-formed and full-formed, for now at least.”

“We are living!” She ran out of the room, screaming.

“Let her go,” the Doctor told them.

Elise gasped. “Rory.”

Amy turned to the Doctor, realizing the same thing. “Doctor, Rory.”

“Rory?”

“Rory!”

“Oh, Rory. Rory! Always with the Rory.”


	17. Chapter 17

They ran out of the dining hall, but their way into the rest of the monastery was blocked by a river of acid.

“Explosion must’ve ruptured the acid feeds. We’re going to need the acid suits,” Jimmy said.

“No, no, no. We haven’t got time. Back, back, back!” the Doctor told them.

They ran the other direction until they came to the washroom.

“Rory,” Amy said, looking around.

There was a hole in the wall to the outside. It looked like someone had punched through it.

“Of course, Jennifer’s a Ganger too,” the Doctor said.

“Doctor, you said they wouldn’t be violent,” Amy reminded him.

“But I did say they were scared and angry.”

“And early technology, is what you said. You seem to know something about the Flesh,” Jimmy said.

“Do you? Doctor?” Amy asked.

“You’re no weatherman. Why are you really here?”

The Doctor looked at Amy and held her gaze.

Elise knew why they were here. Because something was wrong with Amy.

“I have to talk to them. I can fix this,” he told them and ran up the stairs.

Amy, Jimmy, and Elise followed after him.

“Wait. What’s going on? Where’s the real Jennifer?” Jimmy asked.

They came to a corridor and a pipe burst in the Doctor’s face.

Amy pulled him back.

“It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks,” the Doctor said.

“We have to find Rory,” Amy told him.

“Yes. I’m going back to the TARDIS. Wait for me in the dining hall. I want us to keep together, okay. No more wandering off.”

“What about me?” Elise asked.

“You’re going to stay with Amy.”

“And what about Rory?” Amy asked.

“Well, it would be safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the TARDIS.”

The Doctor kissed Elise on the head before disappearing into the darkness.

Jimmy walked over to a box on the wall and said, “Here we go. Distress flares.” When he closed the box, the Doctor was standing there.

“Exit?” he asked.

“Keep going straight. Can’t miss it. But you’re never going to get your vehicle in here.”

“I’m a great parker.”

Elise rolled her eyes.

“Not a word, Ellie.” He disappeared into the darkness once again.

“We really need those acid suits. I’ve sent Buzzer and Dicken to get them,” Jimmy said.

“Fine and dandy. Elise and I…we’re just going to find my husband, so cheers,” Amy told him.

“Amy, I wouldn’t.”

Amy turned away from him. “Nor would I. What can you do, eh?”

“At least wait for an acid suit!”

Amy and Elise continued down the corridor.

Elise had a feeling they were going to get in trouble for this.

“You’re quiet,” Amy said as they walked through the monastery.

Elise kept her mouth shut, opting to give Amy the silent treatment.

“Elise?” Amy stopped walking and knelt in front of her. “Okay, tell me what’s going on. We’re not moving until you do.”

“What would be the point?”

“Of what?”

“Talking. Nobody is listening to me anyway.”

“Elise, that’s not tr…”

“Yes it is!”

Amy jumped. She’d never heard Elise speak with such anger before.

“You and dad keep giving me signals to be quiet! Well I don’t want to be!”

“Then don’t.”

“Wait…what?”

Amy sighed and put her hands on Elise’s arms, looking into her blue eyes. “You should always speak your mind. No matter what anyone says. Your father and I…I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have done that. You’ve spent so many years not speaking. You shouldn’t have to silence yourself. From now on, you should feel free to say what you’re thinking.”

Elise gave Amy a small smile. “Thank you, Auntie Amy.”

Amy hugged the young Timelord and stood up. “Besides, us girls have to stick together.” She took Elise’s hand as they continued their search.

They came to a door.

“Rory. Rory?” Amy called. She opened door, before gasping and shutting it again.

“Amy! Elise!” Rory’s voice said from behind them.

The two spun around and found Rory standing there.

“You’re okay. What happened?” Amy asked. She started to approach him when Jennifer came out from behind him.

“She needs protecting,” Rory said.

Buzzer and Dicken joined them.

“Jen?” Buzzer asked.

“No, it’s a Ganger. Rory, listen…” Amy said.

“Look, you listen! Nobody touches her!” Rory yelled.

They took the Ganger Jennifer to the dining hall to ask her questions.

“Where’s Jen? What have you done with her?” Buzzer asked.

“I haven’t seen her, I swear. But look, I’m her. I’m just like her. I’m real,” Jen said.

“You’re a copy. You’re just pretending to be like her,” Jimmy told her.

“Rory, we don’t really know anything about them yet,” Amy said.

“Well, I know that she’s afraid and she needs our help,” Rory argued.

“Rory’s right,” Elise said.

“Thank you Elise.”

“Jimmy, Buzzer. Come on, you guys. We’ve worked together for two years,” Jennifer said.

“I worked with Jennifer Lucas, not you,” Buzzer told her.

“Okay, let’s not do anything at all…” Amy started.

The Doctor’s voice joined her. “Until the Doctor gets here. Hello.” The Doctor entered the dining hall with the Gangers who now looked completely human.

“This is…” Jimmy said.

“You’re telling me,” his Ganger said.

“All right, Doctor, you’ve brought us together. Now what?” Ganger Cleaves asked.

“Before we do anything, I have one very important question. Has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size ten. Although I should warn you, I have very wide feet,” the Doctor said, causing Elise to roll her eyes.

The Doctor, with his new shoes, explained what was going on to them.

“The Flesh was never merely moss. These are not copies. The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people.”

“Like Frankenstein,” Elise said.

The Doctor gave her a small smile and a nod.

“With souls?” Jimmy asked.

“Rubbish!” Dicken said before sneezing again.

“Bless you. We were all jelly once. Little jelly eggs sitting in goop,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, thanks. Too much information,” Amy told him.

“We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand? Good. Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once I can reach her, I can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers, eh? How does that sound?”

“You’re lucky the TARDIS can’t talk anymore,” Elise muttered.

Amy let out a small chuckle. She could get to like this more outspoken Elise.

“Can I make it home for Adam’s birthday?” Jimmy asked.

“What about me? He’s my son too,” his Ganger said.

“You? You really think that?”

“I feel it.”

“Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?”

“Yeah. I drank about eight pints of tea, then they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing. No idea why. I miss home, as much as you.”

“Look, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a right old mess, this,” the Doctor said, “But as you might say up North, oh well, I’ll just go to’t foot of stairs. Eee by by gum.”

He looked at Elise with a smile on his face. She was shaking her head.

“Or not. Good. Right. First step is we get everyone together, then get everyone safe. Then, get everyone out of here.”

“But we’re still missing Jennifer and Cleaves,” Amy said, looking at Rory and Jennifer who were holding hands.

Elise didn’t understand why Amy was so jealous of her. Rory loved her more than anything in the universe.

“I’ll go and look for them,” Jimmy said.

“I’ll give you a hand, if you like. Cover more ground,” his Ganger suggested.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

The Doctor smiled seeing them work together.

“This circus has gone on long enough,” the human Cleaves said, coming up behind the group.

“Oh, great. You see, that is just so typically me,” her Ganger muttered.

“Doctor, tell it to shut up!”

“Cleaves, no. No, no,” the Doctor said, unable to understand why she was doing this.

“Circuit probe. Fires about ooo, forty thousand volts? Would kill any one of us, so I guess she’ll work on Gangers just the same.”

“It’s interesting you refer to them as it, but you call a glorified cattle prod a she.”

“When the real people are safely off this island, then I’ll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor.”

“What are you going to do to them?” Amy asked her.

“Sorry. They’re monsters. Mistakes. They have to be destroyed.”

“They’re not monsters! They’re people!” Elise argued.

“Give me the probe, Cleaves,” the Doctor begged.

“We always have to take charge, don’t we, Miranda. Even when we don’t really know what the hell is going on,” her Ganger taunted.

Ganger Buzzer rushed towards her and Cleaves zapped him.

The Doctor rushed to his side and felt his neck. “Argh! Dead!”

“We call it decommissioned,” Cleaves said. She pointed the probe at Ganger Jennifer who cowered in fear.

Elise stepped in front of her. At least if she died, she’d regenerate. The same couldn’t be said for the Gangers.

“You stopped his heart. He had a heart! Aorta, valves, a real human heart! And you stopped it!” the Doctor yelled.

“Jen?” Rory asked, approaching her. Her eyes had gone Ganger.

“What happened to Buzzer will happen to all of us if we trust you.”

“Wait, wait, just wait,” the Doctor begged.

“No!” Rory yelled. He tackled Cleaves and disconnected the power from the probe as the Gangers fled.

Cleaves stood up, panting.

“Look at what you have done, Cleaves!” the Doctor growled.

“If it’s war, then it’s war. You don’t get it, Doctor. How can you? It’s us and them now. Us and them.”

Elise grabbed her head as those same words echoed in her head. She saw Gallifrey burning. She could still hear the screaming of her people and the electronic voices that haunted her nightmares.

“Elise!” The Doctor rushed over to her. He gathered her in his arms as he tried to calm her. It’d been a while since she’d experienced one of these attacks, but he guessed the talk of war had set her off. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe,” he cooed, “You’re safe.”

She clutched onto his shoulders.

He could feel her hearts racing. “It’s okay.” The Doctor set his temple on hers and started to hum.

Elise smiled when she heard the familiar tune. It was the same song he used to calm her down after the Byzantium.

Rainbow Connection.

Elise was now calm, but she wouldn’t let of the Doctor’s hand.

“The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery,” he said to himself before he raised his voice, “Cleaves, the most fortified and defendable room in the monastery.”

“The chapel.”

“Thank you.”

“Only one way in. Stone walls two feet thick.”

“You’ve crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves,” the Doctor muttered, “You’ve killed one of them. They’re coming back, in a big way.”

They packed up what they need and headed off for the chapel.

“Jennifer!” Rory called out as they walked.

“What about the flares?” Jimmy asked.

“We’ll worry about the flares when we’re locked inside,” the Doctor told him. He opened the door. “Rory, Pond, Elise.”

A scream echoed through the monastery.

“Rory, come on,” Amy said.

“Jen’s out there. She’s out there and she’s on her own.”

“Well, if she’s got any sense, then she’s hiding,” the Doctor told him, “Rory!”

“I can’t leave her out there!”

“Rory!”

“I know you understand that.”

“Get in here. Get in here!” Amy snapped.

Rory ran down a side corridor as they Gangers approached them.

“Amy…” the Doctor said.

“Rory!” she yelled.

The Doctor grabbed Amy and Elise and dragged them into the chapel before they could go running off after him. “Amy, they are not after him, they’re after us,” the Doctor told her.

There was a crashing sound. It came from the other side of the chapel.

“Why? Why?” a voice asked.

“Show yourself. Show yourself!” the Doctor demanded as the others barricaded the door.

“Doctor, pass me the barrel,” Cleaves said.

“We need something heavy. Anything you can find,” Dicken added.

Jimmy started laughing. “This is insane. We’re fighting ourselves.”

“Yes. Yes, it’s insane, and it’s about to get even more insanerer. Is that a word? Show yourself, right now!” the Doctor yelled.

Amy ran to his side. “Doctor, we are trapped in here and Rory’s out there with them. Hello? We can’t get to the TARDIS and we can’t even leave the island.”

Then they heard the Doctor’s voice, only it wasn’t coming out of the Doctor. “Correct in every respect, Pond. It’s frightening, unexpected, frankly a total, utter splattering mess on the carpet, but I am certain, one hundred percent certain, that we can work this out. Trust me. I’m the Doctor.” Out of the shadows walked a Ganger Doctor.


	18. Chapter 18

The Ganger Doctor cried out in pain.

The sound broke Elise’s hearts. She started to walk towards him, but both the Doctor and Amy grabbed her arms and held her back.

“What’s happening?” the Ganger Doctor cried out. He grabbed his head. “I wonder if we’ll get back. Yes, one day. Argh. Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

“The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations. Hold on!” the Doctor told him.

The Ganger Doctor spoke in a voice Elise didn’t recognize… “Would you like a jelly baby?” …before switching back. “Why? Why? Why?”

“Why, why what?”

The Ganger Doctor spoke in another voice. But this time Elise recognized it. “Hello. I’m the Doctor.”

It was him! The Doctor who saved her all those years ago. The one who held her tight as the Timelords were sucked back into the Time War. The one she barely got to know before she lost him.

“No, let it go, we’ve moved on,” the Ganger Doctor whimpered.

The Doctor rushed forward and grabbed the Ganger.

Amy rushed forward as well, but Jimmy and Buzzer grabbed her. Elise on the other hand, broke away and ran over to the two Doctors.

“Hold on, hold on, you can stabilize,” the Doctor told him.

“I’ve reversed the jelly baby of the neutron flow. Would you like a…Doctor, Doctor, I'm…I’m the…I can't…”

“No, listen, hold on. Hold on.”

“No!” The Ganger Doctor threw the Doctor off of him, but Elise stayed.

This Doctor needed help. Just like when he was dying in the Naismith Mansion. Just like he did when they crashed into little Amelia’s backyard.

The Ganger Doctor stood there with his hands over his ears. Elise stood next to him, a small hand on his back to let him know she was there.

The Gangers were still trying to get in. But then they suddenly stopped for some reason.

“I think I liked it best when they were being noisy,” Buzzer said.

“Doctor, we need you. Get over here,” Amy told him.

The Ganger Doctor straightened up. “Hello,” he said.

“Doctor!” Amy snapped.

“Cybermats,” the Doctor said.

“Do we have time for this?” the Ganger Doctor asked.

“We make time. I’d like more proof that you’re me. Cybermats.”

“Created by the Cybermen. They kill by feeding off brainwaves.”

Amy walked back over to Cleaves and her team. The banging started up again.

“Rory and Amy, they may not trust both of us,” the Doctor told his Ganger.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Inevitably.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same…”

“Wavelength. You see, great minds.”

“Exactly. So, what’s the plan?”

“Save them all, humans and Gangers.”

“Tall order. Sounds wonderful.”

“Is that what you were thinking?”

“It’s just so inspiring to hear me say it.”

The Ganger Doctor laughed. “I know.”

The Doctors looked down at Elise, who was smiling. “What?” they asked.

Elise giggled. “It’s funny. You’re like twins, finishing each other’s sentences. You do the same with River.”

“Do not!”

“Doctor, Elise, come on!” Amy yelled.

“So, what now, Doctor?” the Ganger Doctor asked.

“Well, time to get cracking, Doctor.”

They walked up to the group. “Hello. Sorry, but we had to establish a few ground rules,” they spoke in unison.

“Formulate a protocol,” the Doctor explained.

“Protocol? Very posh,” the Ganger Doctor said.

“A protocol between us. Otherwise…”

“It gets horribly embarrassing.”

“And potentially confusing.”

“I’m glad you’ve solved the problem of confusing,” Amy quipped.

“That’s sarcasm,” the Ganger Doctor said.

“She’s very good at sarcasm,” the Doctor told him.

“Breathe,” they said in unison.

“What?” Amy asked.

“We have to get you off this island. And the Gangers too,” the Doctor said.

“Sorry, would you like a memo from the last meeting? They are trying to kill us!” Cleaves told him.

“They’re scared.”

“Doctor, we’re trapped in here,” Amy reminded him.

“Right, See, I don’t think so. The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above.”

“But where are the earthing conduits?” the Ganger Doctor asked.

“All this piping must go down into a tunnel or a shaft or something, yes? With us?” He walked over and found a grating in the wall. “Yowza! An escape route. You know, I’m starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me.”

Elise rolled her eyes.

“Do we tend to say yowza?” the Ganger Doctor asked.

“That’s enough, let it go, okay? We’re under stress.”

They all filed into the tunnel. It eventually led to a corridor and they climbed out.

The Ganger Doctor held out his hand and Elise took it as she crawled out. They starting walking down the corridor, but Elise didn’t let go of his hand.

“The army will send a recon team out,” Buzzer told them.

“We need to find a way to contact the mainland,” Cleaves said.

“What about Rory and Jen?” Amy asked, “They are both out there.”

“No, this place is a maze. Takes a long time to find someone in a maze,” the Doctor said, “I bet you lot have got a computer map, haven’t you?”

“If we can get power running, we can scan for them. Be a lot quicker,” Cleaves told him.

Everyone started coughing.

“Doctor, you said earlier to breathe,” Amy said.

“Very important, Pond. Breathe.”

“Yeah, well, I’m struggling to.”

“Acid interacting with the stone.”

“Creating an asphyxiant miasma,” the Ganger Doctor added.

“A what?” Cleaves asked.

“Choking gas. Extra heavy. If we can get above it…”

“The evac tower. It’s this way,” Cleaves told them.

They made it to the evac tower and everyone could breathe easily again.

“You okay?” the Ganger Doctor asked Elise. She still hadn’t let go of his hand. Elise nodded.

“Oh. I think I coughed so hard, I pulled a muscle or something,” Amy said, “It’s okay, it’s better. It’s easing off.”

The church bell started ringing as they ran for the controls.

Elise sat in one of the chairs as the two Doctors worked.

They kept popping up and down that it was hard to keep them straight. But they were both the Doctor, so it really didn’t matter.

“Can you really get the power back?” Cleaves asked.

“Oh, there’s always some power floating around.”

“Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint.”

“Can you stop finishing each other's…?” Amy asked.

“Sentences?”

“No probs.”

“Yes.”

One of the Doctors pouted. “But Elise thought it was funny.”

The other rolled his eyes. “She always thinks we’re funny.”

“No, but hang on. You said that the TARDIS was stuck in acid, so won’t she be damaged?” Amy asked.

“Nah…”

“She’s a tough old thing. Tough, old, Sexy.”

“Tough, dependable, Sexy.”

“Come on,” Amy said, “Okay, how can how can you both be real?”

“Well, because we are. I’m the Doctor.”

“Yeah and so am I. We both contain the knowledge of over nine hundred years of memory and experience.”

“We both wear the same bow tie, which is cool.”

“Because bow ties are…”

“And always will be.”

“But how did the Flesh read you? Because you weren’t linked up to it,” Amy said.

“Well, it must’ve been after I examined it. Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created.”

“Ta-da!”

“No getting away from it. One of you was here first,” Amy told them.

“Well, okay. After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now, new shoes. A situation which did not confront me learned self here.”

“That satisfy you, Pond?”

“Don’t call me Pond, please.”

Both Doctor’s looked at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Interesting. You definitely feel more affection for him than me,” the one who Elise and Amy assumed was the Ganger Doctor, spoke, “What about you, Ellie?”

“You’re both the Doctor, so it doesn’t matter,” she said.

“Look, you’re fine and everything, but he’s the Doctor. No offense. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive,” Amy told him.

“Being almost the Doctor’s like being no Doctor at all.”

“Don’t overreact.”

“You might as well call me Smith.”

“Smith?”

“John Smith.”

Elise smiled. So that’s why her last name was Smith!

“Yes! Communication a go-go.”

Cleaves ran to the console.

“Find Rory. Show me the scanning tracking screen,” Amy told her, “Come on, Rory, let’s be having you.”

“There’s no sign of him anywhere.”

“Come on. Come on, baby, show yourself.”

“Saint John’s calling. Emergency Alpha. Saint John’s calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain? Come in.”

There was nothing.

“We’ll never get a signal through this storm. Saint John’s calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent.”

Then a voice came through. “We’re just about reading you, Saint John’s. How are you doing? We’ve had all kinds of trouble here.”

“Request immediate evacuation. We’re under attack. The storm’s affected our Gangers. They’re running amok.”

“Your Gangers?”

“Yes, our Gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out.”

“Copy that, Saint John’s. Shuttle’s dispatched. Hang on.”

“You’ll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower. And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following codeword. I’m typing it, in case they’re listening in.”

“Got it. We’ll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh.”

“We’ve got to get out of here. We are, we’re going to get out,” Buzzer said.

“We’re not leaving without them,” Amy told him.

“I want them found too, but it’s about casualties, innit? Can’t be helped.”

Amy turned back to the Doctor. “What are you doing?”

“Making a phone call,” he said.

“Who to?”

“No one yet. It’s on delay.”

“Right. Not getting it. Why exactly are you making a phone call?”

“Because, Amy, I am and always will be the optimist.” He spun in his chair. “The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.” He spun her around and turned back to the console. “The wheels are in motion. Done.”

Amy laughed and turned to face the Doctor who she assumed was the Ganger, going off his boots. “You know really there can be only one.”

“Hmm?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, nothing. Carry on. Be amazing.” Amy stood up and walked towards a wall, but there was nothing there. She gasped and jumped back.

“Amy, what happened?” the Doctor asked.

She ran over to him and sat back down. “It’s her again.”

“It’s who again?”

“There’s a woman I keep seeing. A woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me. Doctor?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“It’s a time memory. Like a mirage. It’s nothing to worry about.” He patted her on the knee and turned back to the console.

“It’s in my head,” the Ganger Doctor suddenly spoke. He left the room.

“Hey, hold on,” Jimmy said.

“Don’t go!” Cleaves yelled.

“No, leave it to me,” Amy said, going after him.


	19. Chapter 19

Amy came running back into the room, the Ganger Doctor following. “Keep him away from me,” she said, looking like she was about to cry.

“Did you sense it?” the Ganger Doctor asked.

“Briefly. Not as strong as you,” the Doctor said.

“Amy, I’m sorry.”

“No, you keep away. We can’t trust you,” Amy told him.

“It would appear I can connect to the Flesh.”

Wait. Why would he phrase it that way if he was the Ganger?

“You are Flesh.”

It finally dawned on Elise.

“I’m beginning to understand what it’s been through, what it needs.”

“What you want. You are it.”

“It’s much more powerful than we thought. The Flesh can grow, correct?”

“Its cells can divide,” Cleaves said.

“Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge. It’s in pain, angry. It wants revenge.”

“I was right. You’re not the Doctor. You can’t ever be. You’re just a copy,” Amy said.

Elise looked at the redhead. Didn’t she understand what was going on?

“Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?” Cleaves suggested.

“Hold on a minute, hold your horses. I thought I’d explained this. I’m him, he’s me,” said the Doctor sitting next to her.

“Doctor, we have no issue with you, but when it comes to your Ganger…”

“Don’t be so absurd.”

“Buzzer.”

“Sure, boss,” he said.

The Doctor in front of her straightened his bowtie.

“Take a seat, mate,” Buzzer said.

He sat down on the barrel presented to him. “Nice barrel, very comfy. Why not? Is this really what you want?”

Elise walked over to him and sat on the floor next to him.

“Elise…” Amy said.

“No, Amy. It doesn’t matter which one is the Ganger and which one is the Doctor. They’re both the Doctor.”

The Doctor sitting next to her stroked her hair, while the one over by Cleaves and Amy winked at her. Elise just hoped she was right.

A voice came over the console. “This is the shuttle. We’re right above you, but we can’t get low enough. Gamma static could fry our nav-controls. Sit tight. We’ll get to you. Just…”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and soniced Cleaves, who was rubbing her forehead.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Jimmy asked the pilot.

“If I can’t find Rory. I’m going out there,” Amy told the Doctor.

He was examining the results on the screwdriver. “We could use the sonic to track him. Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic needs to tell the difference.”

“Oh, so the sonic knows Gangers are different. The other Doctor is different,” Amy said.

“He is the Doctor.”

“Not to me. I can tell.”

“Sure you’re not prejudiced?”

“Nice try, but I know, okay? We’ve been through too much. You’re my Doctor. End of.”

Elise sighed. “She’s not listening.”

The Doctor petted her hair. “Well not everyone is as clever as you and I.”

“Hey, there’s a camera up. We’ve got a visual,” Buzzer said.

“That’s Rory and Jennifer,” Amy said, looking at the screen.

“They’re heading for the thermostatic room,” Cleaves told them.

“Let’s go get them,” Amy said.

The Doctor tossed his screwdriver to the one sitting by Elise.

“Hang on,” Amy said.

“We can’t let him go. Are you crazy?” Cleaves asked.

“Am I crazy, Doctor?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, you did want to plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet.”

Elise snorted. She wanted to hear that story later.

“He can’t go rescue them. I’m going,” Amy said.

“Do you know, I want him to go,” the Doctor said, standing up, “And I’m rather adamant.”

“Well then, he’ll need company. Right, boss? It’s fine. I’ll handle it,” Buzzer said.

“Thank you, Buzzer. It’ll be all right. I’ll find him,” the Doctor said. He knelt down in front of Elise and lightly tapped her forehead with his, transferring his plans to her.

Elise nodded in understanding.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He kissed her forehead and left.

“Can’t explain it to you now, but I need you to trust him. Can you do that for me, Amy?” the Doctor asked her.

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“Do you think I’d let him interact with Elise if I thought he was going to harm her?”

Amy sighed. “No.”

He tapped the underside of her chin with his knuckle. “Good.”

The console started going off.

“These temperature gauges are rising. Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents,” Cleaves said.

“Why do that?” Dicken asked, “They’ll kill us.”

“There’s a million gallons of boiling acid under our feet.”

“And now it’s heating up the whole island. How long till it blows?” the Doctor asked.

The room shook and Elise grabbed Amy’s hand for comfort. She wondered how the other Doctor was. Was he okay? Should she have gone with him?

“Elise! Focus!” the Doctor yelled. He couldn’t afford for her to get stuck in her head now.

“Gangers or no Gangers, we need to get the hell out of here,” Dicken said.

“Shuttle, we need evac. Where are you?” Cleaves asked, “Can you hear me? Can you…?”

Cleaves doubled over, grabbing her head.

“Cleaves? Cleaves? Cleaves, sit down,” the Doctor told her.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re sick.”

So that’s why he scanned her. Oh! He had also scanned her to give the screwdriver a way to tell humans and Gangers apart!

“I’m waiting for results, so let it go.”

“It’s a very deep parietal clot.”

“How can you possibly…?”

The Doctor sighed.

“Inoperable?” Cleaves asked.

“On Earth, yes.”

“Well, seeing as Earth’s all that’s on…offer.”

“We could take you somewhere. Somewhere that could help. It doesn’t have to be the end for you,” Elise told her.

“I’m no healthy spring chicken, and you’re no weatherman. Right?” Cleaves asked.

There was a big rumble and the whole building shook.

“Something just cracked. I heard it,” Amy said.

“Yeah, we can’t stay here. Let’s go,” the Doctor agreed.

“He’s right. Let’s shift,” Jimmy told them.

“Cleaves to Shuttle. Respond. We need to move, and we can’t be collected from the Evac tower.”

“Give us the codeword.” “The codeword is…”

There was more rumbling, then alarms started going off.

“Cleaves? Cleaves, it’s dead. It’s dead. We need to get out of here. We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on. Come on,” the Doctor told her. He grabbed her and they fled the evac tower.

“What about the Doctor?” Elise asked.

“I am the Doctor.”

“No! The other one! I’m not leaving without him.”

“We’ll find him. I promise. Now come on!”

They came to a passageway where there were hundreds of eyes watching them from the wall.

“Ah. The eyes have it,” the Doctor said.

“Why are they here?” Amy asked.

“To accuse us.”

“Ignore them. It’s not far,” Cleaves told them.

They finally made it to the thermostatic room.

“It’s a chemical chain reaction now. I can’t stop it. This place is going to blow sky high,” the Doctor said.

Elise’s hearts started beating quickly in her chest.

Amy could sense the small Timelord was about to have a breakdown, so she knelt in front of her and rubbed her back. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” she told her.

“Exactly how long have we got?” Cleaves asked.

“An hour? Five seconds? Er, somewhere in between.”

Another alarm started going off.

“Out!” the Doctor yelled.

They all ran out and started back down the passageway where they ran into Rory.

“Thank God. All right?”

“Oh, Rory. Oh, Rory,” Amy said, hugging him.

“There’s a way out. Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt.”

“From the crypt? It’s not on the schematics,” Cleaves told him.

“It runs right out of the monastery. Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor. Follow me.” Rory took off running and everyone followed him.

They entered a room with large vats of acid.

“We can’t leave without Buzzer!” Jimmy insisted.

“I’ll go back for him,” Cleaves said.

“Er, Doctor, look. I’d better tell you. I haven’t been quite straight with you,” Rory said, before Jen appeared and closed the door.

They were locked in.

“Rory!” the Doctor yelled. He ran up to the door and saw him standing there with Jen. “Rory Pond, Roranicus Pondicus!”

“Rory, what the hell are you playing at?” Amy snapped.

“They’ve been throwing away old Flesh and leaving it to rot. Alive. I think the world should see that.”

“Rory, there is no time. The factory’s about to explode,” the Doctor told them. He walked away from the door and Amy looked out at her husband.

“No!” she yelled and ran down the steps.

The Doctor scanned the vat of acid. “This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid, just as a point of interest,” he said.

“And we can’t stop it?”

“Just as a point of interest? No.” He turned to look at Elise. “I’m so sorry.”

She offered him a small smile and said, “You and me, no matter what. Remember?” If he was going down, then she was going down with him.

Dicken lowered the lid onto the vat in an effort to try and buy them more time.

“It’ll never hold her,” Jimmy said.

“If you have a better plan, I’m all ears,” the Doctor told him, “In fact, if you have a better plan, I’ll take you to a planet where everyone is all ears.”

“The acid’s eating through,” Cleaves said.

The Doctor pulled her back before it could blow steam in her face.

Jimmy ran over to the vat of acid and tried holding it closed. The door opened as he was burnt by the acid.

Dicken and the Doctor rushed over to him.

“Let me through!” his Ganger yelled. He knelt by Jimmy’s side and held him in his arms.

“There’s nothing we can do. The acid’s reached his heart,” the Doctor told him.

“Hang in there, mate,” Ganger Jimmy said.

“I’m quite handsome from this angle.”

“I’m sorry. I’m the fake. Adam deserves his real dad.”

“Shut up.”

“What do you want me to do? Anything. Just say.”

“The way things are, mate, it’s up to you now. Be a dad. You remember how.” Jimmy handed his Ganger his wedding ring and then took his last breath.

“Jimmy Wicks, you’re a dad,” the Doctor said.

They made their way to the dining hall.

Amy and Rory hugged while the two Cleaves just looked at each other.

There was a projection of a little boy. “Daddy, it’s me,” he said.

“Hey, sunshine. What are you up to?” Jimmy asked.

“Opening all my presents.”

“Ha ha, good lad. You have fun today. And remember your dad, he loves you very, very much.”

“When are you coming home?”

“Daddy’s coming home today, Adam,” the Doctor told him.

“Yay!” Adam said.

“Now we need to move,” the Doctor told them.

They made it to the corridor leading to the crypt. At the end of the hallway, stood Jen’s Ganger, but it was morphing into a monster.

“Run. Run. Run!” the Doctor yelled.

The growling of Jen could be heard as they ran into the crypt.

“Ooo, roof’s going to give,” the Doctor said as Dicken and his Ganger closed the door.

“We have to stop her. This door doesn’t lock,” Ganger Dicken said.

“No, but the far one does,” Dicken told him.

Dicken ran out into the corridor.

Ganger Dicken and the Doctor slammed the door shut.

“Here she comes,” the other Doctor said, looking at the ceiling.

The TARDIS crashed through.

“Oh, she does like to make an entrance,” the Doctor said.

Elise had never been happier to see the blue box in her life.

The Doctor opened the door. “Everyone move,” he said.

“Go. Go, go, go!”

Elise ran over to the TARDIS and looked back at Amy and the Ganger Doctor.

“Go inside,” the Doctor told her.

Elise did as he said.

Finally, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory entered the TARDIS and they de-materialized before the factory blew up.

“The energy from the TARDIS will stabilize the Gangers for good. They’re people now,” the Doctor said.

“And what happens to me? I still have this,” Cleaves said, pointing to her temple.

“Ah, that’s not a problem. I have something for that. It’s small and red and tastes like burnt onions. Ha. But it’ll get rid of your blood clot.” He tossed a small vial to her and then pulled out a red balloon. “Happy endings.”

They dropped Jimmy off so he could spend his son’s birthday with him and then they went by the headquarters of Morpeth Jetsan.

“You really want us to do this?” Cleaves asked.

“Your company’s telling the world that the situation is over. You need to get in there and tell them that the situation’s only just begun. Make them understand what they’re doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dicken, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don’t hate them, will you?”

“How can I hate them? I’m one of them now,” he said.

“Yeah. And just remember, people died. Don’t let that be in vain. Make what you say in that room count.”

“Ready?” Cleaves asked.

Dicken joined her.

“Side by side,” she said.

“You got it, boss.”

They opened the door and stepped into the press conference.

“You okay?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“I said breathe, Pond. Remember? Well, breathe.”

“Why?”

“Breathe.”

Amy cried out and doubled over in pain.

“What’s wrong with her?” Rory asked.

“Get her into the TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

They went inside the TARDIS.

“Doctor! What is happening to her?” Rory asked.

“Contractions.”

“Contractions?”

“She’s going into labor.”

“Did he say…? No. No, no,” Amy said, starting to freak out, “Of course he didn’t. Rory, I don’t like this. Ow!”

“You’re going to have to start explaining some of this to me, Doctor!” Rory yelled.

“What, the birds and the bees? She’s having a baby. I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That’s why I scanned it. That’s why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans.”

“It hurts,” Amy whimpered.

“You’ll be okay,” Rory told her.

“Breathe. I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh,” the Doctor said.

“What signal?”

“The signal to you.”

“Doctor…Doctor…”

“Stand away from her, Rory.”

“Why? No. And why?” Rory asked.

“Given what we’ve learned, I’ll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!” the Doctor ordered.

Rory slowly stepped back from Amy.

“No. No. Doctor, I am frightened. I’m properly, properly scared,” Amy told him.

“Don’t be. Hold on. We’re coming for you. I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you,” he reassured her. He put his hand on her cheek and Amy held it there.

“I’m right here.”

“No, you’re not. You haven’t been here for a long, long time.” He pulled away from her and stepped back, aiming his screwdriver at her.

“Oh, no.”

He pressed the button and Amy exploded into a pile of Flesh.


	20. Chapter 20

River walked down the corridor of Stormcage dressed in Regency era clothing as alarms went off around her. She picked up the guard’s phone. “Oh, turn it off. I’m breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell.”

The alarms stopped going off.

“Oh, and I’ll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you.”

She hung up and saw two figures standing there.

One was smaller and the other was dressed like a Roman.

“Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos,” River said.

They stepped out of the shadows.

It was Rory and Elise.

“Doctor Song. It’s Rory. Sorry, have we met yet?” he asked, “Time streams. I’m not quite sure where we are.”

“Yes. Yes, we’ve met. Hello, Rory. Hello, Ellie.”

Elise had grown once again in her absence.

“What’s wrong?” Rory asked.

River let out a shuddering breath. “It’s my birthday. The Doctor took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great Frost Fairs. He got Stevie Wonder to sing for me under London Bridge. And of course you were there, little star.”

“Stevie Wonder sang in 1814?”

“Yes, he did. But you must never tell him.”

“We’ve come from the Doctor too.”

“Yes, but at a different point in time.”

“Unless there’s two of them.”

River smirked. “Now, that’s a whole different birthday.” She pulled out her diary as Rory said, “He needs you.”

River found the entry she was looking for. “Demon’s Run.”

“How…how did you know?” Rory asked.

“I’m from his future. I always know. Why on Earth are you wearing that?” “The Doctor’s idea.”

“Of course. His rules of engagement. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

“…Look ridiculous.”

“Have you considered heels?”

“They’ve taken Amy. And our baby. The Doctor’s getting some people together. We’re going after her, but he needs you, too.”

“I can’t. Not yet, anyway.”

“I’m sorry?”

“This is the Battle of Demon’s Run. The Doctor’s darkest hour. He’ll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can’t be with him till the very end.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is it. This is the day he finds out who I am.”

“Come on, Elise. She’s obviously not going to help.”

Rory stalked off, back to the TARDIS.

“I’m sorry,” River told Elise.

“Happy birthday, mum.”

“Thank you, little star.”

Elise ran after Rory.

“Was that Rory I saw?” a voice asked.

River turned to face the redhead. “Yes, it was. What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I wasn’t going to visit you on your birthday? I’m hurt.”

River laughed and hugged the redhead.

They sat down on River’s bed.

“Now, tell me what’s been happening.”

“Well, it all started when…”

The TARDIS landed and they split up.

“Elise, go with Vastra and Jenny,” the Doctor told her.

Elise had been rather fascinated with Vastra, even though her first interaction with the Silurians had been less than pleasant.

They made their way to the control room and surprised the two men at the controls.

“Go on, resist. I am ever so hungry,” Vastra threatened.

“Now, dear. Which button controls the lights?” Jenny asked.

One of the men pointed and Jenny pressed that button, causing all the lights to go out. They gave the Doctor enough time to execute his plan, then turned the lights back on. Vastra and Jenny tied up the two men.

“Clever, isn’t he?” Jenny asked as they watched the soldiers and the Headless Monks kill each other.

“And rather attractive,” Vastra added.

“You do realize he’s a man, don’t you, ma'am?”

“Mammals. They all look alike.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Elise laughed. They were just like River and her father. She hoped she found someone she could banter with like that one day.

“Was I being insensitive again, dear? I don’t know why you put up with me,” Vastra said.

“Vastra!” Elise yelled, seeing one of the soldiers going for the door lock.

Vastra spun around and stung him with her tongue like Alaya had done to Mac.

“Stop. Wait. Listen to me,” the commander said, “I am disarming my weapon pack. Monks, I do this in good faith. I am now unarmed. All of you, discharge your weapon packs. The Doctor is trying to make fools of us. We are soldiers of God. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools.”

The soldiers and him repeated the phrase over and over again.

“Colonel Manton is regaining control,” Vastra said.

“Where’s the Doctor gone?” Jenny asked.

Strax appeared next to Manton. “This base is now under our command.”

“I have a fleet out there. If Demon’s Run goes down, there’s an automatic distress call.”

“Not if we knock out your communications array. And you’ve got incoming…” the Doctor said.

“Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor.”

It was the Spitfires!

“Give ‘em hell, Danny Boy.”

“Target destroyed.”

“Yes!” Elise cheered, clapping.

Vastra smiled at the small Timelord. Elise was beaming from ear to ear and her eyes were sparkling.

The Doctor joined them in the control room. “What did you think?”

“That was amazing!” Elise praised him.

The two high-fived.

The Doctor sat in the chair while they waited for Colonel Manton. He was marched in by Strax at gunpoint.

“All airlocks sealed. Resistance neutralized.”

“Sorry, Colonel Manton. I lied. Three minutes forty two seconds,” the Doctor said.

“Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw,” Strax ordered.

“No. Colonel Manton, I want you to tell your men to run away.”

“You what?”

“Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run Away. I want children laughing outside your door, because they’ve found the house of Colonel Run Away.” The Doctor stood up and got in his face. “And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love…is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look, I’m angry. That’s new. I’m really not sure what’s going to happen now.”

A woman’s voice spoke. “The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules.”

The Doctor turned.

It was the eye-patch lady Amy spoke about.

“Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many,” the Doctor said.

“Give the order. Give the order, Colonel Run Away,” the woman told him.

When they came to the room where Amy was being held, they found Amy and Rory kissing while crying.

“Ew, kissing and crying. I'll…I’ll be back in a bit,” the Doctor said.

Elise agreed. They turned to leave when Rory said, “Oi, you two. Get in here, now.” They came down steps and walked over to Amy, Rory, and their baby.

“My daughter. What do you think?” Rory asked.

The Doctor smiled. “Hello. Hello, baby.”

Rory knelt down so Elise could see her.

“She’s so tiny!” Elise said.

“Melody,” Amy told them.

“Melody? Hello, Melody Pond,” the Doctor said.

“Melody Williams,” Rory corrected.

“…Is a geography teacher. Melody Pond is a superhero,” Amy said.

The Doctor sniffed Amy. “Well yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her. Maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, come here.”

The two of them hugged.

“Doctor.”

“I’m sorry we were so long.”

“It’s okay. I knew you were coming. Both of you. My boys.”

“Oi!” Elise said.

Amy laughed. “And you, little miss.”

“It’s okay. She’s still all yours. And really, you should call her mummy, not big milk thing. And it’s Elise, not Blue Eyes.”

“Okay, what are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I speak Baby.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I speak everything, don’t I, Melody Pond?” The Doctor messed with his bowtie. “No, it’s not. It’s cool.”

Amy laughed.

Vastra entered the room. “Doctor? Take a look. They’re leaving. Demon’s Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher.”

River’s words echoed in Rory and Elise’s head.

He’ll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further.

The Doctor parked the TARDIS and Rory, Amy, and Melody immediately left.

Evidently, Melody didn’t like the TARDIS noise.

“Is Melody gonna travel with us?” Elise asked as the Doctor carried a wooden cot. She wouldn’t stop asking questions about Melody.

“Maybe not until she’s older.”

“So does this mean she’s like my cousin or something?”

“Well not technically.”

“So, just a friend then?”

“Open the other door, would you?”

Elise opened the other door and the Doctor carried the cot out.

“She’s not hungry, she’s tired. Sorry, Melody, they’re just not listening,” he said.

“What’s this? Melody?” Amy asked.

“Very pretty, according to your daughter.”

“It’s a…it’s a cot,” Rory said.

“No flies on the Roman. Give her here,” the Doctor said.

Amy handed Melody to the Doctor. “Hey, there we go.”

The Doctor placed her in the cot.

“But where would you get a cot?” Rory asked.

“It’s old. Really old. Doctor, er, do you have children?” Amy asked, “Besides Elise.”

Elise was too old to have even slept in it.

“No.”

“Have you ever had children?”

The Doctor ignored the question. “No, it’s real. It’s my hair.”

“Who slept in here?”

“Doctor, we need you in the main control room,” Vastra said over the intercom.

“Be right there! Things to do. I’ve still got to work out what this base is for. We can’t leave till we know.” He started to walk off, but Amy went after him.

“But this is where I was? The whole time I thought I was on the TARDIS, I was really here?” she asked.

“Er, Centurion, permission to hug?”

“Be aware, I do have a sword,” Rory said.

“At all times.”

They hugged.

“You were on the TARDIS, too. Your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place.”

“And when I saw that face looking through the hatch, that woman looking at me.”

“Reality bleeding through. They must have taken you quite a while back. Just before America.”

“That’s probably enough hugging now,” Rory told him.

The Doctor pulled away.

“So her Flesh avatar was with us all that time. But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS wherever we were in time and space,” Rory said.

“Yeah, they’re very clever,” the Doctor said.

“Who are?” Amy asked.

“Whoever wants our baby,” Rory said.

“But why do they want her?”

“Exactly,” the Doctor said.

“Is there anything you’re not telling us?” Rory asked, “You knew Amy wasn’t real. You never said.”

“Well, I couldn’t be sure they weren’t listening.” The Doctor started to walk off.

“But you always hold out on us. Please, not this time. Doctor, it’s our baby. Tell us something. One little thing,” Amy said.

“It’s mine,” the Doctor told them.

“What is?” Rory asked.

“The cot. It’s my cot. I slept in there.” He smiled and left them with their baby and Elise, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Melody.

“Oh, my God. It’s the Doctor’s first stars,” Amy said. Amy wiped Melody’s face with the prayer leaf Lorna had given her.

“Drop your weapons. State your rank and intent,” Strax said, “I found it listening at the door.”

It was the soldier from earlier.

Lorna.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not a fan of the ending, but I’m leaving it for now.

“I heard her talking. This is a trap,” she said, “Why would I lie to you?”

“Well, you might want to take a look at your uniform,” Rory said.

“The only reason I joined the Clerics was so I could meet the Doctor again.”

“You wanted to meet him, so you joined an army to fight him?” Jenny asked.

“Well, how else do you meet a great warrior?”

“He’s not a warrior,” Amy told her.

“Then why is he called the Doctor?”

The lights started to go out.

“It’s starting. Please, listen to me.”

“But no one else is here but us,” Rory said.

Strax pulled out his device and scanned. “Confirmed. No life forms registering on this base, except us and the Silurians,” he said.

“The Headless Monks aren’t alive. They don’t register as life forms,” Lorna told him.

Vastra and Jenny rejoined them.

“Where’s the Doctor?” Elise asked.

“He’s coming,” Vastra told her.

A white cone of light appeared around the TARDIS.

“What’s that?” Amy asked.

Vastra approached the TARDIS, but her hand was stopped. “A force field.”

There were loud thuds.

“And those are the doors. Locking,” Lorna said.

“Apparently we’re not leaving,” Vastra told them.

There was chanting that was getting louder by the second.

“Is that the Monks?” Rory asked.

“Oh, dear God. That’s the attack prayer,” Dorium said.

“Quick, come with me,” Rory told Amy and Elise.

“Commander Strax!” Vastra yelled.

“I’m trying to seal off this area of the lighting grid.”

“This is where we’ll make our stand. Clear lines of sight on all approaches.” Rory led them over to a stack of boxes.

“Rory, no offense to the others, but you let them all die first, okay?” Amy said.

“You’re so Scottish,” Rory told her.

Amy laughed and they kissed.

“Centurion, you’re needed!” Vastra called.

Rory kissed Melody on the head and then did the same to Elise. The Doctor wasn’t here to comfort her, so he would instead.

“Be careful,” Elise told him.

He nodded and then left them alone.

Amy and Elise listened to the chanting and there was a swish and a thud.

“Mister Maldovar?” Vastra asked.

“Dorium?” Rory asked.

“The child. At all costs, protect the child!”

Elise burrowed into Amy’s side as they listened to the gunfire. Melody was crying and Elise was doing her best to be brave. Then Melody exploded in Amy’s arms.

“No!” Elise yelled, “No.”

“Rory? Rory! Rory!” Amy screamed.

Elise stood up. This couldn’t be happening. Everything was going so well. “Lorna was right,” she said, “It was a trap.”

“Amy!” the Doctor yelled. He found them.

“Yeah, we know,” Rory told him.

The Doctor walked over to where Jenny was comforting Amy.

Elise was sitting next to Jenny, her blue eyes blank and hazy. She was completely trapped in her own mind.

Jenny stroked the little Timelord’s hair.

“So they took her anyway. All this was for nothing,” Amy said, her face covered in tears.

“I am so…sorry.”

Amy stood up.

“Amy, it’s not his fault,” Jenny told her.

“I know. I know.”

Rory walked over to his wife and held her.

“Doctor, there’s someone who wants to speak to you. Her name is Lorna. She came to warn us,” Vastra said.

“Elise?” Jenny asked, “C’mon Elise.” But Elise just sat there.

There was a flash of lightning and River stood there. “Well then, soldier. How goes the day?” she asked.

The Doctor stormed over to her. “Where the hell have you been? Every time you’ve asked, I have been there. Where the hell were you today?”

“I couldn’t have prevented this.”

“You could have tried!”

“And so, my love, could you.” River looked at Amy. “I know you’re not all right. But hold tight, Amy, because you’re going to be.”

“You think I wanted this? I didn’t do this. This, this wasn’t me!”

“This was exactly you. All this. All of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you’d become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name. Doctor. The word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word Doctor means mighty warrior. How far you’ve come. And now they’ve taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they’re going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down. And all this, my love, in fear of you.”

River walked over to Elise. “Little star.”

Elise finally snapped out of it and looked at River.

River helped her up. “Look at her, Doctor. Your daughter. Look at what all this is doing to her. She crawls inside her mind because she can’t handle it all. But she will one day. One day she’ll about as feared as you. She’ll be a force to be reckoned with and you know it. Because you’ve seen it.”

“Who are you?”

“Oh look, your cot. Haven’t seen that in a very long while.” River backed up towards it and the Doctor grabbed her.

“No, no, you tell me. Tell me who you are.”

She took his hand off her wrist and placed it on the cot. “I am telling you. Can’t you read?”

He looked down at the old high Gallifreyan on the cot.

Elise couldn’t read it.

“Hello,” the Doctor said.

“Hello,” River echoed.

The Doctor laughed. “But…but that means…”

“I’m afraid it does.”

He clapped and rubbed his hands together, before looking back at Amy and Rory. “Ooh. But you and I…we, we, we…” He puckered his lips and made kissing noises.

“Yes.”

He rubbed his hands together and looked back at Amy and Rory again. “Ooh.” He straightened his bowtie and jacket. “How do I look?”

“Amazing.”

“I’d better be.”

“Yes, you’d better be.”

“Vastra and Jenny, till the next time.”

“Doctor,” Amy said.

“Rory and Amy, I know where to find your daughter, and on my life, she will be safe. River, get them all home.”

“Doctor!” Rory yelled.

“No! Where are you going?” Amy asked.

The Doctor took down the force-field around the TARDIS and went inside. He popped his head out and pointed at River, before laughing.

Elise rolled her eyes and went inside.

The TARDIS took off.

“Explain,” Elise said, “Who is River?”

The Doctor laughed. “River is Melody.”

“Wait…what?”

“We always meet out of order, remember?”

“What did River mean? About me?”

The Doctor sighed and knelt in front of her. “There are things you don’t know, Elise. Things I can’t tell you. But you’re just going to have to trust me and River.”

“Okay, but how are we going to find little Melody?”

The Doctor smiled. “Because I’m the Doctor. That’s how!”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing these next few chapters.

The Doctor entered the art room the TARDIS had created for Elise. It was much like her bedroom with a large window at the back that let her look at the stars or wherever they had landed.

Elise was sitting on a huge canvas, her hands a flurry as she painted.

He cleared his throat and she finally looked up. There was a smudge of blue paint above her right eye.

“I have something for you,” he told her.

“What happened?”

“What makes you think I did something?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I swear nothing happened,” he said, pulling out a record from behind his back.

Elise dropped her paints and ran over to him. The white sleeveless cardigan she wore was splattered with different colors of paint, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. She was also wearing a light blue tank top and skinny jeans. All she was missing was a flower crown in her hair.

She took the record from him. It was by some obscure artist she’d never heard of.

“I know it’s not Bob Dylan or something like that.”

Elise kissed his cheek and said, “It’s perfect.” She walked over to her record player and set it on the turnstile. She placed the needle on the record and soft music started to play. Elise closed her eyes as she listened to it, lightly swaying to the beat.

Elise had flourished in last few years. When they weren’t looking for Melody, they took frequent trips to the 70’s. Elise quickly learned that it was her favorite decade. The fashion, the art, the culture. The only thing they had to be careful of was running into some of his past regenerations.

“Finish up what you’re doing. We’ve got Ponds to pick up.”

“Amy and Rory? But we haven’t seen them in forever.”

The Doctor showed her a newspaper. The headline was about a crop circle, created by Amy and Rory no doubt.

“You going to wear that coat?” Elise asked.

The Doctor played with the longer coat. It wasn’t as long or flowy as his tan one, but it fit him. “Why? What’s wrong with it?” he asked.

Elise shrugged. “Nothing. Just like the tweed one is all.”

The Doctor clapped his hands. “Chop, chop. Finish up.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll meet you in the control room.”

The Doctor smiled as he left the room. Elise was slowly becoming his best friend. He still saw her as a daughter, but he was trying to let up on his overprotective tendencies. She was a teenager now and she’d be wanting more independence soon.

The Doctor bounced up to the console as Elise came into the control room. She’d traded her sleeves cardigan for a simple TARDIS blue hoodie.

They exited the TARDIS as a car stopped in front of them.

The Doctor held up the newspaper in his hand and pointed to it. “Seriously?”

“Well, you never answer your phone,” Rory told him.

“Okay, you’ve had all summer. Have you found her? Have you found Melody?” Amy asked. She looked at the brunette standing next to the Doctor. “Elise?”

Elise gave her a small wave. “Hi Amy.”

The last time the Ponds had seen her, she looked to be around 10 years old. Now she looked like a human teenager. She was small though, only hitting the Doctor’s chest.

“Wow. You’ve grown! And look at you!” Amy said, “With those blue eyes, the Doctor is gonna be beating the boys off of you with a stick!”

Elise blushed as the Doctor rolled his eyes. The Doctor turned to Rory. “Permission?”

Rory took the newspaper from him. “Granted.”

The Doctor threw his arms around Amy, hugging her.

Rory awkwardly walked up to Elise and cleared his throat. “So…how have you been?”

Elise laughed and hugged Rory.

Rory flipped through the newspaper. “Hang on. What’s this bit?”

Elise looked and saw a line going through the design in the photograph that hadn’t been there before.

The Doctor and Amy joined them.

“That wasn’t us,” Amy said.

The Doctor snatched it from Rory’s hand and walked around with it.

Then they all heard a motor.

The Doctor lowered the newspaper to see a bright red car driving towards them.

They all screamed and ran out of the way.

“Dad!” Elise said, running to his side. She helped him up as the car skidded to a halt about an inch from the TARDIS.

A young black woman stepped out. “You said he was funny. You never said he was hot,” she said. She looked at Elise. “And hello, Blue Eyes.”

Elise had heard that somewhere before. But where?

“Mels!” Rory scolded her.

“What are you doing here?” Amy asked.

“Following you,” Mels told them, “What do you think?”

“Er, where did you get the car?” Rory asked.

“It’s mine. Ish.”

They could hear police sirens.

“Oh, Mels, not again,” Amy whined.

“You can’t keep doing this. You’re going to end up in prison,” Rory told her.

“Sorry. Hello. Doctor not following this. Doctor very lost,” the Doctor said, “You never said I was hot?”

“Is that the phone box? The bigger on the inside phone box?” Mels asked. She walked over to the TARDIS and ran her hands down the doors. “Oh, time travel. That’s just brilliant.”

Elise grabbed her wrists and pulled her away. “Yes, but please don’t touch her.”

Mels smirked at Elise. “Easy there, Blue Eyes. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She looked the Doctor. “Both of you. I’m their best mate.”

“Then why don’t I know you?” the Doctor asked, “I danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant. The men were a bit shy.”

“I don’t do weddings.”

The sirens were getting closer.

“And that’s me out of time.” Mels pulled a gun on the Doctor and Elise jumped in front of him. “Aren’t you daddy’s little girl?” Mels taunted her.

“Mels!” Amy yelled, “What are you doing?”

“For God’s sake!” Rory yelled as well. What on earth was she thinking?

“I need out of here, now,” Mels said.

“Anywhere in particular?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, let’s see. You’ve got a time machine, I’ve got a gun. What the hell. Let’s kill Hitler.”

They all ran out of the TARDIS, coughing from the smoke.

“Out, out, out! Everybody out. Don’t breathe the smoke, just get out!” the Doctor yelled.

“Where are we?” Amy asked.

“A room.”

“What room?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know what room. I haven’t memorized every room in the universe yet. I had yesterday off. Mels, don’t go in there.”

The Doctor grabbed Mels’ gun.

“Oi!” she snapped.

“Bad smoke. Don’t breathe the bad, bad, smoke. Bad, deadly smoke because somebody shot my TARDIS!” the Doctor yelled.

Elise did not like this Mels person.

Rory walked over to a man lying on the floor. “Doctor. This guy, I think he’s hurt. No, hang on. No, he’s fine.”

The Doctor placed the gun in a fruit bowl on the desk as someone stood up. “Ooo, hello. Sorry, is this your office? Had a sort of collision with my vehicle. Faults on both sides, let’s say no more about…”

The person straightened up.

“It.”

“Is that? No, it can’t be, Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Thank you, whoever you are. I think you have just saved my life,” Hitler told them.

“Believe me, it was an accident,” the Doctor said.

“What is this thing?”

“What did he mean, we saved his life?” Amy asked him, “We could not have just saved Hitler.”

The Doctor stalked over to Mels, where she was standing by Elise. “You see? You see? Time travel, it never goes to plan.”

“This box. What is it?” Hitler asked.

“It’s a police telephone box from London, England. That’s right, Adolf. The British are coming.”

The man on the floor stood up.

“No, stop him!” Hitler yelled.

The Doctor ducked as Hitler shot the man.

Rory punched Hitler and grabbed his gun. “Sit still, shut up,” he snapped.

Amy went over to the man. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes. Yes, I’m fine. I think he missed,” he said.

“He was going to kill me,” Hitler told them.

“Shut up, Hitler!” Rory yelled.

“Rory, take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there. Now. Do it,” the Doctor said.

“Right. Putting Hitler in the cupboard,” Rory said, “Cupboard, Hitler. Hitler, cupboard. Come on.” Rory grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to the cupboard.

“But I am the Fuhrer!”

“Right, in you go!” Rory shoved him into the cupboard.

“Who are you?”

Rory slammed the door shut.

“Are you okay?” the Doctor asked the man.

“Oh, I…” The man then fainted.

“I think he just fainted,” Rory told them.

“Yes, that was a faint. A perfect faint,” the Doctor said.

Amy looked over at Mels, who had her had on her stomach. Elise was on the floor next to her, looking at her with a shocked expression.

“Mels?” Amy asked.

“Hitler…”

“What about him?” the Doctor asked.

“Lousy shot.” Mels collapsed and Elise was by her side in a second. Mels had shoved Elise out of the way to prevent her being shot.

“Mels! Mels!” Amy yelled, running over to them.

The Doctor and Rory followed.

“Rory!” the Doctor yelled.

“No, no, no, no! I’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Rory said.

“How bad is it? Rory, what can we do?” Amy asked.

“Just keep her conscious. Stay with us, Mels.”

“Hey, look at me. Just hold on,” the Doctor told her.

“I used to dream about you. All those stories Amy used to tell me.”

“What stories? Tell me what stories. Vampires in Venice. That’s a belter.”

“When I was little, I was going to marry you.”

“Good idea, let’s get married. You stay alive and I’ll marry you, deal? Deal?”

“Shouldn’t you ask my parents’ permission?”

“As soon as you’re well, I’ll get on the phone.”

“Might as well do it now, since they’re both right here.”

Everyone went still, suddenly realizing who she was.

“Penny in the air.”

Golden energy started to emanate from her body.

The Doctor and Elise realized what was about to happen.

“Penny drops.”

The Doctor grabbed Elise and pulled her away from Mels.

“No!” she screamed, “Let me go!”

“What the hell’s going on?” Rory asked.

“Back! Back! Back! Get back!” the Doctor yelled as he dragged his struggling daughter away from her.

“Let me go!” Elise yelled.

Mels stood up. “Last time I did this, I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York.”

“Okay, Doctor, explain what is happening, please,” Amy said.

“Mels,” the Doctor said, “Short for…”

“Melody,” Mels supplied.

“Yeah. I named my daughter after her,” Amy told him.

“You named your daughter after your daughter.”

“It took me years to find you two. I’m so glad I did. And you see? It all worked out in the end, didn’t it. You got to raise me after all,” Mels said.

“You’re Melody?” Amy asked.

“But if she’s Melody, that means that she’s also…” Rory said.

“Shut up, Dad. I’m focusing on a dress size,” she snapped. She threw her arms out as she regenerated into a woman they all knew.

The woman Elise called her mother.

River Song.


	23. Chapter 23

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Whoa! Right, let’s see, then.” Melody, River, looked down at her body. “Ooo, it’s all going on down there, isn’t it?” She reached up and felt her hair. “The hair! Oh, the hair.” She ran over to a mirror and looked at herself. “It just doesn’t stop, does it? Look at that. Everything changes. Oh, but I love it. I love it! I’m all sort of…mature.”

Okay, this was weird. This was not the River they all knew.

She struck a pose and said, “Hello, Benjamin.”

The Doctor put a hand over his eyes and then turned to Amy. “Who’s Benjamin?” he whispered.

Elise shrugged. It was probably a pop-culture reference. Elise really only understood those from the 70’s.

Melody, Elise couldn’t call her River yet, clicked her teeth together. “The teeth. The teeth, the teeth!” She spun around to look in the mirror again. “Oh, look at them.” Melody turned back to them and pinned the Doctor against Hitler’s desk.

Elise hid a laugh. Her father looked so uncomfortable with Melody pressed up against him.

“Watch out, that bow tie. Excuse me, you lot. I need to weigh myself,” she said, before running off into a side room.

Amy and Rory leaned up against Hitler’s desk. Rory patted the Doctor on the shoulder.

“That’s Melody,” Amy said.

“It’s River Song,” Rory corrected her.

“She is not River Song!” Elise snapped, “She is not my River.”

Melody popped her head out of the room. “Who’s River Song?”

“Spoilers,” the Doctor told her.

“Spoilers? What’s spoilers? Hang on, just something I have to check.” She ran back into the side room.

“Is anybody else finding today just a bit difficult?” Rory asked, “I’m getting a sort of banging in my head.”

“Yeah, I think that’s Hitler in the cupboard,” Amy told him.

“That’s not helping.”

The Doctor stood up and started to pace, Amy and Rory following. “This isn’t the River Song we know yet. This is her right at the start. Doesn’t even know her own name.”

“Oh, that’s magnificent!” Came Melody’s voice. She rejoined them. “I’m going to wear lots of jodhpurs. Well, now, enough of all that. Down to business.” She pulled out Hitler’s gun.

Elise started to move in front of her father, but he stopped her. “Oh, hello. I thought we were getting married,” he said.

Melody walked towards them, the gun trained on the Doctor. “I told you I’m not a wedding person.”

“Doctor, what’s she doing?” Rory asked.

“What she’s programmed to.”

“Where’d she get the gun?”

“Hello, Benjamin.”

Melody cocked an eyebrow at him, a trait Elise had obviously picked up from her now that the Doctor thought about it. “You noticed.” She tried to fire, but all it did was click. The chambers were empty.

“Of course I noticed. As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit.”

Melody may not have been River yet, but Elise still loved seeing them go at it. It’s what made them so perfect for each other. They were constantly locked in a battle of wits. Melody dropped the gun. “I know you did.”

“I know you know.”

Melody pulled a banana on him. “Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?”

The Doctor took it from her and flipped it in his hand. “Why? Are you busy?”

“Oh, I’m not complaining.” She grabbed a letter opener, but the Doctor grabbed his screwdriver and soniced it out of her hand.

“If you were in a hurry, you could’ve killed me in the cornfield,” he told her.

“We’d only just met. I’m a psychopath. I’m not rude.” She grabbed the other gun and tried to fire it, but it just clicked.

The Doctor held up the clip he had taken from it.

“You are not a psychopath,” Amy told her, “Why would she be a psychopath?”

Melody dropped the gun as she and the Doctor started to circle each other. “Oh, Mummy, Mummy, pay attention. I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor.”

“Demons Run. Remember?”

Melody and the Doctor’s faces were an inch from each other’s.

“This is what they were building. My bespoke psychopath.”

“I’m all yours, sweetie.” She kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Only River Song gets to call me that.”

“And who’s River Song?”

“An old friend of mine.”

“Stupid name.” She walked away from him and looked out the window. “Oh, look at that. Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart. Now that’s my kind of town. Mum, Dad, don’t follow me. And, yes, that is a warning.”

“No warning for me then?” the Doctor asked.

“No need, my love. The deed is done and so are you.”

The Doctor smirked and started to walk towards her before stumbling.

Amy, Rory, and Elise grabbed onto him.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Amy asked.

“What have you done? River!” the Doctor yelled.

“Oh, River, River, River,” Melody moaned, “More than a friend, I think.”

“What did you do?” Elise asked her.

“It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruelest.”

The Doctor touched his lips.

“Kiss, kiss,” she said and jumped out the window.

“What’s wrong with you? What’s she done to you?” Rory asked.

“Poisoned me. But I’m fine. Well, no, I’m dying, but I’ve got a plan,” the Doctor told them.

“What plan?” Amy asked.

“Not dying. See? Fine.” The Doctor stumbled to his feet.

“Okay, what do we do? How do we help you?” Rory asked.

“Take this.” He handed his screwdriver to Amy. “The TARDIS can home in on it. Now, go. Get after her.”

Amy and Rory looked at Elise, who was just barely holding her father up.

“Go. I’ll take care of him,” Elise told them. She helped the Doctor to the TARDIS.

“Extractor fans on!” he said.

The smoke started to disappear.

“Oh, that works.”

Elise helped him the console where he collapsed to his knees. “What do you need me to do?” Elise asked, “Please!”

The Doctor rolled over onto his back. He reached up and touched Elise’s face. “There’s nothing you can do. I’m shutting down. I need an interface. Voice interface. Come on, emergency.”

A hologram of the Doctor appeared. “Voice interface enabled.”

“Oh no, no, no, no, no. Give me someone I like.”

The interface transformed into a blonde girl and Elise watched as her father’s eyes lit up for a second. Who was she? And why did the Doctor have that kind of reaction?

“Oh, thanks. Give me guilt.”

The interface transformed into a black woman this time. “Also guilt.”

Next was a ginger woman. “More guilt. Ahh! Come on, there must be someone left in the universe I haven’t screwed up yet.”

The last was little Amelia Pond. “Voice interface enabled.”

“Oh. Oh, Amelia Pond, before I got it all wrong. My sweet little Amelia.”

“I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface.”

“Hey, let’s run away and have adventures. Come along, Pond.”

“I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface.”

“You are so Scottish. How am I doing?”

“Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas tree. You will be dead in thirty two minutes.”

“Okay. So, basically better regenerate, that’s what you’re saying.”

“Regeneration disabled. You will be dead in thirty two minutes.”

“What? No! No, that’s not fair!” Elise yelled.

“Unless I’m cured, yeah?” the Doctor asked.

“There is no cure. You will be dead in thirty two minutes.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because you will be dead in thirty two minutes.”

“But…but there has to be something we can do!” Elise said, “Please!”

“You see? There you go again. Basically skipping thirty one whole minutes when I’m absolutely fine. Scottish, that’s all I’m saying,” the Doctor said.

“You will be fine for thirty one minutes. You will be dead in thirty two minutes.”

“Scotland’s never conquered anywhere, you know. Not even a Shetland. River needs me. She’s only just beginning. I can’t die now.”

“You will not die now. You will die in thirty two minutes.”

“I’m going out in the first round. Ringing any bells? Ahhh!” The Doctor rolled over on his stomach.

Elise was trying her hardest not to cry, but it was steadily becoming difficult.

“Okay, need something for the pain now. Come on, Amelia. It’s me. Please.”

“I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface.”

Elise had had enough. “Disable voice interface.”

The voice interface disappeared.

“No! What are you doing!” the Doctor yelled.

She hauled him to his knees and took his face in her hands. “Listen to me. You’re not dying on me, okay? Because if you die, I die. If you go down, I’m going down with you.”

“What? No! Why would you do that?”

Elise sniffled and gave him a small smile. “Because it’s me and you, no matter what. You matter more to me than anything in the universe. You’re my father and I need you.”

The Doctor smiled and kissed her forehead. “Okay. Help me up.”

Elise helped him up and guided him to the console.

“I need you to fly her,” he told her.

“What? But I don’t know how!”

“She’ll teach you.”

Buttons lit up and levers flipped on their own. Okay. She could do this.


	24. Chapter 24

The Amy duplicate opened her mouth and hit Melody with a beam of light.

“No! No! Get off me!” Melody yelled.

“Sorry, did you say she killed the Doctor? The Doctor? Doctor who?” The Doctor stood there leaning against the TARDIS wearing a tuxedo and a top hat. He also had a cane in his hands.

“You’re dying. And you stopped to change?” Melody asked him.

Elise stepped out of the TARDIS. “Believe me. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“One must look presentable for one’s death. And you should always waste time when you don’t have any. Time is not the boss of you. Rule 408. Amelia Pond, judgment death machine.” The Doctor waltzed up to it. “Why am I not surprised?”

He held up his cane and the top of it popped open. “Sonic cane.”

Elise rolled her eyes.

“Are you serious?” Melody asked.

“Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious. Rule 27. You might want to write these down.” His sonic cane gave him the results of the scan. “Oh! It’s a robot! With 423 life signs inside. A robot worked by tiny people. Love it. But how do you all get in there, though. Bigger on the inside?”

He checked his sonic cane. “No, basic miniaturization sustained by a compression field. Ooo. Watch what you eat, it’ll get you every time. Amy, if you and Rory are okay, signal me.” The tip of the cane lit up. “Thanking you.”

The Doctor cried out in pain and collapsed. Elise ran to his side. “I’m so sorry. Leg went to sleep. Just had a quick left leg power nap. I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, better sit down. I think I heard the right one yawning.”

Melody tried running, but the Amy duplicate grabbed her with its beam. Melody cried out in pain.

“No! Stop it!” Elise yelled. This River may not have been her mother, but she still cared about her.

“Don’t you touch her! Do not harm her in any way!” the Doctor told it.

The duplicate cut the beam, but Melody was now trapped in an energy field. “Why would you care? She’s the women who kills you,” the duplicate said.

The Doctor took off his top hat. “I’m not dead.”

“You’re dying.”

“Well, at least I’m not a time traveling shape shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people, which, I have got to admit, I didn’t see coming. What do you want with her?” The Doctor pointed at Melody with his cane.

“She’s Melody Pond. According to records, the woman who kills the Doctor.”

“And I’m the Doctor. So what’s it to you?”

“Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has…responsibilities.”

The Doctor laughed. “What? You got yourselves time travel, so you decided to punish dead people?”

“We don’t kill them. We extract them near the end of their established timelines.”

“And then what?”

“Give them hell.”

Elise didn’t know what they meant by that, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.

“I’d ask you who you think you are, but I think the answer is pretty obvious,” the Doctor said, “So, who do you think I am, huh? The woman who killed the Doctor. It sounds like you’ve got my biography in there. I’d love a peek.”

“Our records office is sealed to the public. Foreknowledge is dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll be dead in three minutes. There isn’t much foreknowledge left.”

“Sorry, can’t do that.” A few seconds later, the duplicate said, “Records available.”

The Doctor struggled to his feet, leaning on his cane and Elise. “Question. I’m dying. Who wants me dead?”

“The Silence.”

“What is the Silence? Why is it called that? What does it mean?”

“The Silence is not a species. It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked.”

“What question?”

“The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight.”

“Yes, but what is the question?”

“Unknown.”

“Oh. Well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge. Call yourself a Records…” The Doctor cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor, taking Elise with him. “Kidneys are always the first to quit. I’ve had better, you know.”

The forcefield around Melody turned red and she cried out in pain.

“No! Stop it!” Elise screamed, tears starting to stream down her face. She was watching both of her parents die, except it hurt more this time.

“Amy. Rory. Amy… Can you hear me?” the Doctor asked, panting through the pain.

“What do we do?” the duplicate asked, “This is me. This is me actually talking. What do we do?”

“Just stop them. She’s your daughter. Just stop them.”

“How? How?”

“Just do it!”

Whatever Amy and Rory did worked, because Melody was released from the energy forcefield.

“Please. Now we have to save your parents,” the Doctor told her, “Don’t run. Now, I know you’re scared, but never run when you’re scared. Rule seven. Please.”

“Doctor, can you help us? Doctor? Doctor, help us! Doctor, help us! Doctor, please!” Amy cried out from the duplicate.

Elise struggled to help him to his feet, but it was getting harder and harder to support him. They only managed to make it to the stairs. “Come on,” Elise whispered to him.

“Doctor! Help!”

“Look at you. You still care,” Melody said.

“Doctor, help! Doctor, help us! Please help us.”

“It’s impressive, I’ll give you that.”

“River, please,” the Doctor begged.

“Again!” Melody got up from the chair she was sitting in. “Who is this River? She’s got to be a woman. Am I right?”

“Help me…save Amy and Rory. Help me.”

“Tell me about her. Go on.”

“Just…! …help me.”

“Take the TARDIS,” Elise told her.

“But I don’t know how…”

“She’ll show you. Now go.”

Melody disappeared into the TARDIS.

“Ellie…” the Doctor whimpered.

Elise shifted him on his back and set his head in her lap.

“Sing…sing to me.”

Elise sniffled and tucked some hair behind his ear. “Why are there so many, songs about rainbows? And what’s on the other side…?”

The TARDIS reappeared and Amy, Rory, and Melody came out.

Elise was holding him in her arms, gently rocking back and forth as she cried.

Amy and Rory rushed to their sides.

Rory wrapped an arm around Elise and kissed her head.

“You can’t die now. I know you don’t die now,” Amy told him.

“Oh, Pond, you’ve got a schedule for everything.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Doctor, what do we do? Come on. How do we help you?” Rory asked.

“No. Sorry, Rory, you can’t. Nobody can. Ponds, listen to me. I need to talk to your daughter.”

Amy and Rory moved away from the Doctor.

“Ellie…”

Elise shook her head. “No. No, I’m not leaving you.”

“Ellie, please.” Elise sniffled and kissed his forehead, before she stood up. She ran to Rory, who wrapped his arms around her while Amy rubbed her back.

Melody walked up to the Doctor and knelt down next to him. “Find her. Find River Song and tell her something from me,” he told her.

“Tell her what?” She leaned down and he whispered something in her ear. “Well, I’m sure she knows.” Melody pulled away from the Doctor.

“No!” Elise yelled and broke away from Rory, “No!” She collapsed on the Doctor’s chest, wailing. He wasn’t supposed to die here. What was she supposed to do without him?

Melody stood up and backed away the Doctor and his grieving daughter. Melody felt her heart breaking for the girl. She felt connected to her for some reason. Why else would she have pushed her out of the way of the bullet? “Who’s River Song?” she asked.

Amy turned to the duplicate of herself. “Are you still working? Because I’m still a relative. Access files on River Song.”

“Records available.”

“Show me her. Show me River Song.”

The duplicate transformed into the River they knew.

“Melody, what did he say? The Doctor gave you a message for River Song. What was it?” Amy asked.

Melody’s hands started to glow.

“What’s happening? River, what are you doing?”

“Just tell me. The Doctor, is he worth it?”

Elise stood up and looked at her. “Yes. He’s the most important thing in the universe to me.” Elise knew Melody cared about her. Even if she wasn’t River yet.

River knelt down and poured her regeneration energy into the Doctor and he opened his eyes.

“River. No. What are you doing?” he asked her.

“Hello, sweetie.” River pressed her lips to the Doctor’s.

“So that’s it, we just leave her there?” Amy asked.

“Sisters of the Infinite Schism. Greatest hospital in the universe,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, but she’s our daughter. Doctor, she’s River and she’s our daughter.”

“Amy, I know. But we have to let her make her own way now. We have too much foreknowledge. Dangerous thing, foreknowledge.”

His eyes flitted to Elise for a second, but she wasn’t paying attention. She’d been quiet ever since they dropped River off.

“What’s that?” Amy asked.

“Nothing.” He turned the monitor off. “Just some data I downloaded from the Teselecta. Very boring.”

“Doctor, River was brainwashed to kill you, right?” Rory asked.

“Well, she did kill me, and then she used her remaining lives to bring me back. As first dates go, I’d say that was mixed signals.”

“But that stuff that they put in her head, is that gone now? The River that we know in the future, she is in prison for murder.”

“Whose murder?” Amy asked.

The Doctor said nothing. He only smiled before dancing around the console.

“Will we see her again?”

“Oh, she’ll come looking for us,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, but how? How do people even look for you?”

“Oh, Pond! Haven’t you figured that one out yet?”

Amy and Rory decided to retire to their bedroom before the next adventure.

The Doctor sat down next to Elise. “Elise?”

“You died.”

“Yes, but…”

Elise stood up. “There is no but! You died! You died and left me all alone! What was I supposed to do if you did! I’m not good at this Timelord stuff! I might as well not be a Timelord!”

The Doctor stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “Shhh,” he cooed.

“I was so scared.”

“I know you were. But it’s okay to be scared, remember?”

“Dad?”

“Yes, Ellie?”

“Who was the blonde? The one the interface showed you?” Elise felt her father tense.

“No one. Just an old friend.”

Funny. That’s what he called River.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be starting a new book in this series called "Deleted Scenes/One-shots" where you can find "What if's...?" and scenes that won't make it into the series.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I forgot to tell you who the faceclaim is for Elise's first body.
> 
> It's Alexandra Daddario.

The Doctor was leaning up against the console when his psychic paper started burning in his jacket. He pulled it out and looked at the message. “Please save me from the monsters.”

The Doctor danced around the console. “Haven’t done this in a while.”

“Haven’t done what? What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“Making a house call.”

They stepped out of the TARDIS into a parking lot of a set of flats.

“No offense, Doctor…” Rory said.

“Meaning the opposite,” he said.

“But we could get a bus somewhere like this.”

“The exact opposite.”

“Well, I suppose it can’t all be planets and history and stuff, Rory,” Amy told him.

“Yes, it can. Course it can. Planets and history and stuff. That’s what we do. But not today. No,” the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and scanning the area, “Today, we’re answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe.”

“And where is that exactly?” Elise asked.

“A child’s bedroom.” The Doctor stopped and smiled at Elise.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just remembering how you used to want to sleep in my bed after a nightmare.”

Amy giggled as Elise blushed in embarrassment.

Rory patted her on the shoulder. “You should hear my father talk about me as a child.”

They made their way to the lift.

“Please save me from the monsters? Who sent that?” Rory asked.

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” the Doctor said.

“Sounds like something a kid would say,” Amy commented.

“Exactly. A scared kid. A very scared kid. So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us in the TARDIS.”

“Yeah, but you’ve traced it here.”

“Exactly.”

The lift dinged and the doors opened.

“Ah. Going up.”

Amy, Rory, and the Doctor stepped inside.

“Elise, come on,” the Doctor said.

“I…uh…I think I’ll take the stairs.”

“Are you…scared?”

Elise wrapped her arms around herself, clearly uncomfortable.

Rory stepped out and took her hand. “Just focus on me.” He walked back into the lift and Elise followed him, her eyes never leaving his.

The lift doors closed and it started its ascent.

The Doctor kissed Elise on the temple and rubbed her back until the lift doors opened again. Once Elise was outside, she could feel herself calming down.

“You did a good job,” the Doctor told her, “Okay, we should split up and ask questions.”

“You mean, like…knock on people’s doors?” Elise asked.

The Doctor sighed. The older Elise got, the more he got to know her personality. And he’d learned that a lot of things scared her. He could put “Lifts/Tight Spaces” and “Social Anxiety” down on his list.

“You can come with me,” Amy said.

Elise nodded and followed the redhead. After having no luck, they met back up with Rory.

“We’ve got to find that kid,” Amy said.

“Maybe we should let the monsters gobble him up,” Rory said, putting on a creepy voice.

Elise smacked him hard on the arm.

“Ow! Sorry,” he said, rubbing the place where she hit him.

They met up with the Doctor by the lift.

“Hey. Any luck?” Amy asked him.

“Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia and a man with ten cats.” “What are we actually looking for?” Rory asked.

“Ten cats! Scared kid, remember?”

“Elise and I found scary kids,” Amy said, “Does that count?”

“Er, try the next floor down. Catch you later.” The Doctor walked off.

“Okay,” Amy said.

“Maybe it was, you know, junk mail,” Rory said, pressing the button for the lift.

“What?” Amy asked.

The lift dinged and the doors opened.

“The message on the psychic paper. Maybe it was just nothing.”

“That’s not really how the psychic paper works, Rory,” Elise told him.

They entered the lift and Amy pressed the ‘4’. The lift dropped into a quick descent.

Amy and Rory screamed, while Elise hit the floor with her head in her hands.

Rory woke up in a room he didn’t recognize.

“Amy? Amy? Are you here?” Amy sat up.

“Yeah. Here. No, here. It’s me.”

“Where’s Elise?” Rory pulled out a small pen light.

Elise was lying between them.

Rory knelt down and checked her pulse. “She’s alive. Elise? Elise, wake up.”

Elise sat up and screamed.

“It’s okay! It’s okay!” Rory said, putting his arms around her, “You’re okay.”

“Where…where are we?” she asked.

“I don’t know. We were in a lift, weren’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amy said, “We…I remember getting in and then…”

Rory groaned.

“What?” Amy asked him.

“We’re dead, aren’t we?”

“Eh?”

“The lift fell and we’re dead.”

“Shut up.”

“We’re dead. Again.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “We are not dead. I’m a Timelord. When we die, we regenerate. I’m pretty sure I’m still the same me.”

“Elise is right. Let’s just find out where we are,” Amy said.

They stepped out into a corridor.

“You know, it’s obvious what’s happened,” Rory said.

“Oh really? Do enlighten us oh great one,” Elise said.

Rory and Amy looked at her, surprised at the amount of sass. Clearly extreme sarcasm was one of her coping mechanisms.

“Sorry,” Elise said, wrapping her arms around herself.

“The TARDIS has gone funny again. Some…time slippy thing. You know, The Doctor’s back there in Eastenders-land and we’re stuck here in the past. This is probably seventeen hundred and something,” Rory said.

“Yay. My favorite year,” Amy said, sarcasm lacing her tone.

“Good observation, Rory. But no. I would’ve felt it.”

“How?” Amy asked.

Elise shrugged. “Dunno. Dad doesn’t really explain anything to me, but I think it’s written into a Timelord’s DNA. We can feel the passage of time. I’d know if we were transported back.”

The trio eventually came to a kitchen.

“A bit neglected, wherever it is,” Amy said after knocking into some stuff.

“Let’s find the front door, at least,” Rory told her, “Then we can work out where we are. When we are.”

Amy picked up a pan and tapped it. “Elise? Rory?”

“Yeah?” Elise said.

“Look at this.”

“Well, it’s a copper pan,” Rory said.

Elise took it from Amy. “It’s wood. Painted to look like copper.”

“That is stupid,” Rory told them.

There was a memory prickling in the back of Elise’s mind. This all felt so familiar to her.

Amy spotted a lamp on a shelf. “There’s a switch.” She turned on the lamp.

“Wow. Well, not seventeen hundred and something, then,” Rory said.

“Elise? What is it?” Amy asked, noticing the Timelord hadn’t moved in a while.

“What? Nothing. It’s nothing,” she said.

They started opening drawers.

Amy and Rory screamed when they found a glass eye, looking an awful lot like the Atraxi eye. Amy reached out and touched it. “It’s glass. It’s a glass eye.”

Rory’s light started flickering.

“Stop doing that,” Amy told him.

“It’s not me. Come on.”

Amy grabbed the lamp. “Yeah. Hang on.” She picked up the wooden pan and Elise pulled out her screwdriver.

They continued through the house until the floorboards became stones.

“Let’s try down here,” Rory told them.

They came to an entrance hall. A candelabra sat on the floor, along with an overturned bird cage.

“Oh, at last,” Rory said, seeing the front door. He walked over to it before realizing something.

“What is it?” Amy asked.

“No doorknob. Wooden pans, a massive glass eye, and now no doorknob.”

Elise’s theory was continually being proven, but she needed to be sure first.

“And this clock,” Amy said.

“What?” Rory asked.

“Look, the hands, they’re painted on.”

Suddenly, there was childish laughter and footsteps.

“Please tell me you guys heard that,” Elise said, “I’m not just having a waking nightmare.”

“No, I heard it,” Amy reassured her.

There was more laughter.

“They’re getting closer,” Amy said.

“They?” Rory asked.

They walked closer to the door where the laughter could be heard and Rory opened it. A life-size doll stood there.

“Oh, it’s just a…It’s a dummy. Oh, it’s just a dummy,” Amy breathed.

“This is weird,” Rory said.

“Yeah, says the time traveling nurse.”

Rory tapped it and it swayed.

“Yeah, er, let’s just leave that for now. Come on,” Amy told him.

They started up the stairs.

“So…um…I have a theory,” Elise said.

“A theory? Feel like sharing with the class?” Amy asked.

“Eh, it’s kind of a work in progress.”

“Why aren’t there any lights? I miss lights. You don’t really miss things till they’re gone, do you? It’s like what my nan used to say. You’ll never miss the water till the well runs dry,” Rory ranted as they walked down a dark corridor.

“Rory,” Amy said.

“Except light, I mean, not water. Lights are great, aren’t they? I mean if this place was all lit up, we wouldn’t even be worried at all.”

“Rory. Panicking, a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”

“Yeah.”

A man suddenly came running towards them. “Help me, please! Keep them away from me! Keep them away!”

The doll from earlier popped up out of nowhere and grabbed the man. He screamed and then turned into wood.

“I take it all back. Panic now,” Amy said.

“Run!” Elise yelled. She grabbed Amy and Rory’s hands as they ran back the way they came.

“Don’t run away. We want to play!” the doll said.

They ran into the library and slammed the door.

“Feel like sharing that theory now?” Amy panted.

“We’re in a dollhouse. I don’t know how or why, but we’re in a dollhouse.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe we only have four episodes left until the end of this season! Where has the time gone?

Suddenly the dolls were banging on the door trying to get in.

“Lock it!” Amy yelled.

“There isn’t a lock,” Rory told her.

Amy groaned. “Elise! Sonic the door.”

“I can’t! The sonic doesn’t do wood!”

Even with the three of them, the door was still pushed open by the dolls. They managed to push it shut again.

Rory ran over and grabbed a large spool of thread and placed it up against the door, but the dolls were still banging on the door trying to get in.

“We can’t stay in here. We’ve got to get out!” Amy told them.

“Er, how?” Rory asked.

“Take control, Rory. Take control of the only thing we can. Letting them in.”

“Letting them in?”

“Amelia Pond, have you completely lost your mind!” Elise yelled.

“It’ll surprise them. We open the door and we push past them,” Amy said, “Kick them, punch them, anything, okay?”

“Time to play!” one of the dolls sang.

“Okay,” Rory said.

“Okay,” Amy echoed.

They looked at Elise.

“I’m going to regret this, but okay,” she agreed.

Rory picked up a mop and Elise pulled out her screwdriver.

Amy pulled the spool out of the way. The door swung open.

One of the dolls fell flat on its face, while Rory and Elise pushed past the other.

“Amy, come on!” Rory yelled, but it was too late. One of the dolls had already grabbed Amy.

“Rory!” Amy screamed.

“No!” Elise yelled.

“Amy!” Rory yelled, “Get off…!” Rory and Elise watched horrified as Amy was transformed into a doll.

“Come on,” Elise said, “If we can find the Doctor, he can fix this.”

The two of them backed up the stairs as the dolls came towards them. They ran through the house until they came to a foyer.

“Dad!” Elise said throwing her arms around him.

“You’re okay! Wait. Where’s Amy?”

Rory pointed to the redhead doll following them.

“George! George, you have to face your fears! You have to face them now. You have to open the cupboard, or we’ll all be trapped here forever in a living death. George! George, listen to me. George! George, listen to me. George!” the Doctor yelled.

“George!” Elise called out, “I know you’re scared. But it’s okay to be scared. But you never run when you’re scared! I’m scared right now and I’m not running! I’ve been through a lot of scary things, so believe me when I say that it will be okay! Just open the cupboard!”

The dolls stopped moving.

George was standing at the bottom of the staircase.

“George. George, you did it. You did it. Hey, it’s okay. It’s all okay now. Everything’s going to be fine,” the Doctor told him.

The dolls started moving again, except this time they were moving towards George.

“No! No! No, no, no, no, no. George, you created this whole world. This whole thing. You can smash it. You can destroy it.”

George shook his head.

“Something’s holding him back. Something’s holding him back. Something.” The Doctor turned to George’s father. “That’s what did it. That’s what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn’t wanted, that someone was going to come and take him away.”

“Well, we, we talked about it.”

The dolls were getting closer to George and he just stood there terrified.

“Yeah, and he heard you, Alex,” the Doctor told him, “A Tenza’s sole function is to fit in, to be wanted, and you were rejecting him.”

“We just couldn’t cope! We needed help!”

“Yes, but George didn’t know that. He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it.”

“But how can we keep him? How can we? He’s not…”

“Not what?”

“He’s not human.”

The dolls were surrounding George.

“No.”

“Dad!” George yelled.

Alex pushed his way through the dolls and grabbed his son. “Whatever you are, whatever you do, you’re my son, and I will never, ever send you away. Oh, George. Oh, my little boy.”

“Dad.”

The Doctor put an arm around Elise and kissed her head. Elise breathed a sigh of relief.

Amy, Rory, and Elise stepped out of the lift.

It was now morning.

“Was I…?” Amy asked.

“Yeah,” Rory said.

“Unfortunately. I wish last night was some kind of fever dream. I’ve discovered I don’t like dolls,” Elise told them.

“Yeah. You and a lot of people,” Amy said.

They made their way back to the TARDIS to wait for the Doctor.

Elise threw her arms around him when she saw him.

He hugged her back. “Proud of you,” he whispered into her hair.

She’d been scared, but she worked through it in order to help George. Just like when he had been dying in the Naismith Mansion. Elise could see past her own fear if someone else was in trouble. Elise smiled and pulled away from him.

“Come on, you lot. Things to do, people to see, whole civilizations to save. You feeling okay?” he asked.

“Er, I think so,” Amy said, while Rory nodded.

“Well, it’s good to be all back together again, in the flesh. Come on.”

They entered the TARDIS.

“Now, did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Rory said.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Er…” Amy said.

“Mind’s gone blank,” the Doctor told her.

“Well, I have just been turned into a wooden dolly.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

“It’s tough, though. It’s like being given three wishes,” Rory said, “The whole universe?”

“Or universes. Ooo, three wishes, like Ali Baba. How about that?”


	27. Chapter 27

“Apalapucia,” the Doctor said, dancing around the console. He was still wearing that long green coat that Elise didn’t care for.

“Say it again?” Amy asked.

“Apalapucia.”

“Apalapu…”

“Chia.”

“Apalapucia,” Rory said, giving it go. He got it right on the first try.

“Apalapucia,” the Doctor said.

“Apalapucia,” Amy said, finally getting it, “What a beautiful word.”

“Beautiful word, beautiful world. Apalapucia! Voted number two planet in the Top Ten Greatest Destinations for the Discerning Intergalactic Traveler.”

“Why couldn’t we go to number one?” Rory asked.

“It’s hideous. Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia. I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades.”

They all ran for the TARDIS doors.

“I give you…” The Doctor threw open the doors and there was nothing except a set of doors across from them.

“Doors,” Rory said.

“Doors. Yes. I give you doors. But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades.”

“Have you seen my phone?” Amy asked.

“Your phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years from Earth, and you want to update Twitter.”

“Sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades. It’s a camera phone.”

“On the counter, by the DVDs.”

“Thank you.” Amy disappeared back into the TARDIS to get her phone. “

How do we get in?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know. Push a button,” the Doctor told him.

Rory pressed the Green Anchor and they went inside the room. The door closed behind them.

“Okay, so rain check on the soaring silver colonnades,” the Doctor said.

Elise patted him on the back.

“Yeah,” Rory said.

There was a magnifying glass in the middle of a table.

“Hey? Hey, it’s locked,” Amy told them from outside the room.

“Yeah, push the button,” Rory said.

They assumed that the doors would just open and Amy would be standing there, but nothing happened.

“Come on, Amy,” Rory muttered. He walked over to the door and pressed the button.

The doors opened, but no one was standing there.

“Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?” Rory asked.

The Doctor sat down in one of the chairs and pressed the green button on the magnifying glass stand.

Amy appeared.

“Rory, I think I’ve found her,” the Doctor said.

“What do you mean you’ve found her?” Rory walked over to them and jumped when he saw Amy. “Whoa.” He ran around to the other side of the magnifying glass. “No, but, she’s not, she’s not here. I can see her, but she’s not here.”

“It’s like a mirror,” Elise said.

“Where am I? In fact, where are you?” Amy asked.

A white robot entered the room with them. It didn’t have a face and was holding up a hand.

“Hands. Hello, hands. Robot with hands, Rory,” the Doctor said.

“Welcome to the Twostreams facility. Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

“Er, Doctor, something’s happening,” Amy said.

The image in the glass started to waver.

“Er, Amy? Stay calm. Stay still,” the Doctor told her. He took out his sonic screwdriver and soniced the glass. “Ah, time’s gone wobbly. I hate it when it does that.”

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

Rory backed away from the robot. “Good question. Bit sinister. What’s the answer to not get us killed?”

Elise stood in front of Rory, between him and the robot. At least if something happened to her, she could regenerate.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you, you’re fine,” the Doctor told her.

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked again.

“A little help, Doctor,” Rory said.

“And where have you been?” Amy asked.

“Dad! What do tell it? There’s got to be a way to turn it off!” Elise snapped.

“I’ve been here a week.”

“A week?” the Doctor asked Amy, “A week? I’m so sorry. Ah-ha. Same room, different times. Two different time streams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you’re in a faster time stream.”

“Doctor, it’s going again!”

“Doctor!” Rory yelled.

Elise had her screwdriver out and pointed at the robot, but it wasn’t doing anything. The robot was almost touching them. Elise knew something would happen, but she wasn’t interested in finding out what.

“Amy!” the Doctor yelled.

“Doctor!”

The Doctor soniced the glass again. “Come on. Gotcha. There. Stabilized, settled, shush.”

“Why has this got hands?” Rory asked.

“Organic skin. Ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. I mean, it’s actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room,” the Doctor explained, “But why not just give it eyes?”

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

“As long as it takes.” The Doctor walked back over to the glass. “Amy, what exactly did you do?”

“I just, I came in and I pressed the door button.”

“Oh! Amy, there are two buttons. The green anchor and the red waterfall,” Rory told her, “Which one did you push?”

“I pushed the red waterfall.”

“Great.” Rory left the room and came back a minute later. “I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn’t there!”

“Okay, so you can’t follow her directly. No, it’s never simple. Did you hear that, Handbot? She pressed the wrong button, that’s all. We’re aliens, we didn’t know.”

“Statement rejected,” the Handbot said, “Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Gen-7.”

The Doctor covered his mouth and nose with his coat. “What?”

Rory did the same and walked over to him. “Gen-7?”

“The one day plague.”

“What, you get it for a day?”

“No, you get it, and you die in a day.”

“There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now,” the Handbot said before it beamed out of the room.

“Sterile area. I’m safe,” the Doctor said. He walked over to Elise and kissed her forehead, smoothing a hand over her hair. “We’re safe.”

“What about me?” Amy asked.

“Gen-7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians.”

“And Time Lords,” Elise said, realizing why the Doctor had been reassuring her.

“Yeah, like us. Walk into that facility, we’re dead in a day. Time moves faster on Amy’s side of the glass. Amy, you said you’d been here a week. What did you eat?”

“Nothing. I wasn’t hungry.”

“No, because that Red Waterfall time is compressed. That’s the point. The Time Glass syncs up the two time streams for visits. You could be in here for a day, and watch them live out their entire lives.”

“And watch them grow old in front of your eyes?” Rory asked.

“That’s awful,” Elise said, her blue eyes filling with tears. Were they going to have to watch Amy age and die?

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. “No, it’s kind. You’ve got a choice. Sit by their bedside for twenty four hours and watch them die, or sit in here for twenty four hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?” The Doctor pulled the Time Glass off the table.

“Doctor!” Amy cried out.

The Doctor moved and placed the glass where Amy would be sitting. “I’m here, Amy. I’m right here.”

“Where are you? Am I looking at you?”

“Turn left just a fraction.”

Amy did as he said.

“Bit more. Stop. That’s it.”

“Eye to eye?” Amy asked him.

“Eye to eye.”

“Hello.” Rory told her.

“Amy, I’m taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS,” the Doctor said, “Like satnav, I’ll use it to get a lock, then smash through using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you’re on your own.” The Doctor soniced the glass.

“Er, what are you doing?” Rory asked

“Locking it on to Amy. Small act of vandalism. No one’ll mind.”

An alarm started going off.

“Ah, that’ll be the small act of vandalism alarm. Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you’re immune to Gen-7, but don’t let them give you anything. They don’t know you’re alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go.”

Amy walked over to the other set of doors and pressed the button. She turned back to them before she entered the facility. “Rory, I love you. Now save me. Go on.”

The now trio headed back to the TARDIS.

“Are you sure this going to work?” Elise asked her father.

“This is locked onto Amy permanently.” He placed the Time Glass onto the console. “Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS’ll follow it.”

The Doctor pulled out a tool box and started rummaging through it. “Now then, I know you’re in here. Er, er, ha ha!” He turned around with a pair of thick rimmed glasses on his face. “How do I look?”

“Ridiculous,” Rory told him.

Elise would have said cute if the Doctor wasn’t her adoptive father.

“Glasses are cool, see?” He put them on Rory. “Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man.”

“Oh, hello.”

Elise giggled.

“Hello, Rory-cam,” the Doctor said.

“Huh?” Rory turned around and saw the Doctor on the monitor. “Oh, you can see what I see.”

“You’re breaking into Twostreams. Now, I can’t go in there. The Gen-7’ll kill me and Elise, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears.”

“Rory-cam. Rescue Amy. Got it.”

“That’s the spirit. Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bit hairy.”

“Is it safe?”

“Don’t know. Never tried. Best hold onto something.”

Elise grabbed onto the railing as the TARDIS started wheezing.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been kinda MIA, but I've had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life.

There was a loud crash and the TARDIS jolted.

Rory ran to the doors and opened them. “Red Waterfall. We made it.”

“Good old us,” the Doctor said.

“How do we know that we’re in the same Red Waterfall as Amy?”

“Focus on the positive.”

Rory looked at a topless statue of a lady. It was carved in the Greek style. Elise’s area of expertise was in painting, but she could admire the talents of sculptors.

“We locked onto Amy’s time stream. Eyes front, soldier.”

“Right, yes. Sorry.”

“Apalapucians are the great cultural scavengers, Rory. This gallery’s a scrapbook of their favorite places.”

There was a copy of the Mona Lisa on a pedestal (or maybe it was the original?). Elise considered asking her father to visit Da Vinci.

“Bit of Earth, bit of alien…” Rory looked at a pillar that was glowing blue and dripping. “…bit of whatever the hell that is.”

The Doctor shed his jacket as Rory looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“Right, Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it. I’m sending a command signal to the screwdriver. Amy’s here somewhere, if I can just get a lock on her.”

Rory pulled out the screwdriver and soniced the Time Glass.

“I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?” the Doctor wondered.

Blurry figures of people appeared in the Time Glass.

“Oh, there they are. Forty thousand time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn’t one time stream, it’s thousands.”

“How is that possible?” Elise asked.

“The same way the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.” The Doctor tapped her nose like he did River.

“Are they happy?” Rory asked.

“Oh, Rory. Trust you to think of that. I think they’re happy to be alive. Better than the alternative.”

Rory lowered the Time Glass in time to see someone coming towards him with a Samurai sword. He fell backward onto the floor.

The Doctor grabbed Elise around the waist to stop her from running out of the TARDIS to Rory’s aid.

“I come in peace. Peace, peace, peace, peace,” Rory told the person.

“I waited.”

“Sorry, what?”

“I waited for you. I waited for you.”

They raised their helmet to reveal an older Amy. A much older Amy.

“Amy,” Rory breathed, “Doctor, what’s going on? Amy.”

“I think the timestream lock might be a bit wobbly.”

Amy raised her sword.

“No, please. Please,” Rory begged.

“Duck,” she told him. Amy stabbed the Handbot in the head and it hit the ground.

The Doctor and Elise watched on shocked. This wasn’t their Amy. Their sweet and kind Amy. She’d hardened.

“Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I’ve changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to re-program. Used my sonic probe.”

“Amy.”

“Rory.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve survived this long by making the Handbots think I don’t exist. Don’t touch the hands. There’s anesthetic transfer on the skin. If they touch you, you go to sleep.”

“But you’re still here?”

“You didn’t save me.” Amy started to walk off, but Rory ran in front of her.

“But, this is the saving. This is the us saving you. The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!”

The Doctor mouthed a “Sorry”, but neither could see it. Elise placed a hand on his back, comforting him in her own silent way.

“I’ve been on my own here a long, long time. I’ve had decades to think nice thoughts about him. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four,” Amy told Rory.

“40? Alone?”

“36 years, thanks.”

“No. Right. I mean, you look great. Really, really.” Rory’s eyes wandered.

“Eyes front, soldier.”

“Still can’t win then?”

“In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate The Doctor. I hate him more than I’ve ever hated anyone in my life, and you can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can’t you, Raggedy Man?”

“Er, yes. Putting the speaker phone on.” The Doctor walked over to the console and hit a button. He wouldn’t let it show, but Elise knew his hearts were breaking with that statement.

“You told me to wait, and I did. A lifetime,” Amy told him.

“Amy!”

There was a Handbot coming up behind her.

“You’ve got nothing to say to me.”

“Amy, behind you!”

There was another one in the room with them.

Amy threw her sword to Rory and touched the hands of the Handbots together. They powered down.

“Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day,” Amy said. She left the art gallery and Rory followed her.

“Okay, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening,” Rory asked the Doctor.

“We locked on to a timestream, Rory. This is it.”

“This is so wrong.”

“I got old, Rory. What did you think was going to happen?” Amy snapped.

Rory grabbed her by the arm and she looked back at him. “Hey, I don’t care that you got old. I care that we didn’t grow old together. Amy, come on, please.”

Amy pulled her arm out of his grip. “Don’t touch me. Don’t do that.”

“It’s like you’re not even her.”

“36 years, 3 months, 4 days of solitary confinement. This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?”

“Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?” he asked her.

“I made it. And it’s a sonic probe.”

“You made a sonic screwdriver?”

“Probe.”

Rory followed Amy into the section of the facility where Amy had been living for the past 36 years. She had a Handbot with hooks for hands and a smiley face drawn on it.

“Don’t worry about him. Sit down, Rory,” Amy said.

Both Rory and the Handbot sat down.

“You named him after me?” Rory asked. That had to mean something, right?

“Needed a bit of company.”

“So he’s like your…”

“Pet?”

“Is it safe?”

“Yep. I disarmed it.”

“How?” Rory looked down the robot’s non-existent hands. “Oh, you disarmed it.”

“Oh, don’t get sentimental, it’s just a robot. You’d have done the same.”

“I don’t know that I would have,” the Doctor told her.

“And there he is. The voice of God. Survive, because no one’s going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that.”

“Is that really all I taught you?”

“Don’t you lecture me, blue-box man flying through time and space on whimsy. With his always faithful daughter by his side.”

Elise tried not to be hurt by that comment. Was she really always faithful? She couldn’t think of time where she’d gone against her father.

“All I’ve got, all I’ve had for 36 years, is cold, hard reality. So no, I don’t have a sonic screwdriver because I’m not off on a romp. I call it what it is. A probe. And I call my life what it is. Hell.”

“Amy Pond, I am going to put this right. You said you learned from an Interface. Can I speak with it?”

Amy looked down and checked her watch. “Doesn’t work in here. 2:23. The garden’ll be clear now.” She walked up to Rory. “Stay or go?”

“Sorry, me? No, I’m coming with you.”

“Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever.”

Amy and Rory made their way to the garden.

“When I first came here, I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I’ve reprogrammed it now. It’ll tell me anything except how to escape,” Amy explained.

“You hacked it? That’s genius,” Rory said.

“Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment, but temporal engines like that have a regulator valve. Has to be kept at a distance from the main reactor or there’d be feedback. Interface, where’s the regulator?”

A blueprint appeared on the screens of the TARDIS. “The regulator valve is held within.”

“Oh. Very, very… Interface, I need to run through some technical specifications. Rory, give me to Amy a minute.”

“Here you go,” Rory said and handed them to Amy.

She put them on. “They look ridiculous,” she said.

“That’s what I told him. Still, anything beats a fez, eh?”

The two of them smiled and laughed together.

“What is it?” Rory asked.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve laughed in 36 years.”

“I’ll just, er, leave you two geniuses alone. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“There’s still time, Amy. There’s still time to fix everything.” As they were discussing the plan, Amy suddenly started running.

A Handbot had gotten to Rory. Amy chopped its head off before it could harm him.

“Rory. Rory?” Amy asked, kneeling by his side.

Rory groaned. “Glasses.”

Amy stood up. “Stupid!”

“Oh! You saved me.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Have you been crying? A little bit.”

“Shut up, Rory.”

“You have, haven’t you?”

“Woman with a sword. Don’t push it.”

Elise smiled. There was their Amy.

“Okay. So, here’s the plan. Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in Twostreams it’s extra wobbly,” the Doctor said.

Amy took the glasses off and put them back on Rory.

“I’ve worked out how to hijack the Temporal Engines and use them to fold two points of Amy’s timeline together. We’re bringing her out of the “then” and into the “now”! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute. It won’t hurt, probably. Almost probably and then Amy Pond, I’m going to save you.”

“No!” Amy yelled.

“No? What do you mean no?” Elise asked her, “Amy…”

“Time’s up. Handbots coming.”

Rory followed Amy back into the main part of the facility.

“Amy, you’ve got to help us help you. I need you to think back 36 years ago,” the Doctor told her, “Amy? Amy!”

Amy entered the Temporal Engines room and slammed the door in Rory (and their) faces. There was something on the door.

Rory raised the Time Glass up to the door to read the message. It read “Doctor, I’m waiting.” “You told her to leave us a sign. She did and she waited. Oh Amy.”

Rory entered the Temporal Engines room, going after Amy. “Why won’t you help yourself?”

“He wants to rescue past me from 36 years back, which means I’ll cease to exist. Everything I’ve seen and done dissolves. Time is rewritten.”

“That's…that’s good, isn’t it?”

“I will die. Another Amy will take my place. An Amy who never got trapped at Twostreams, an Amy who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won’t be me.”

“But you’ll die in here!”

“Not if you take me with you. You came to rescue me, so rescue me.”

“Leave her and take you?”

“We could take this Amy with us, easy, but if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued,” the Doctor said.

Rory shook his head. “So I have to choose which wife do I want?”

“She is me. We’re both me.”

“You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you. I promised.”

Amy stared at him for a moment and then entered her makeshift home.

“Rory,” the Doctor said.

“This is your fault.”

“I’m so sorry, but, Rory…”

“No, this is your fault! You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there’s an outbreak of plague or not.”

“Rory…” Elise said.

“Oh great. Let me guess. You’re going to defend him, aren’t you? Maybe you should grow up and realize that he’s not perfect.”

Elise had had enough. She was not going to stand around and constantly be insulted. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Elise…” The Doctor said, reaching for her.

“No. I…I need to be alone.” She walked away and left her father standing in the control room alone.

An hour later, there was a knock on her door.

“Elise? It’s me,” Rory said.

Elise wiped her cheeks. “Um, come in.”

The door opened and Rory entered. He walked toward Elise and sat down on her bed. “You’ve been crying.”

“What gave you that impression?” Elise’s voice was hard and Rory could tell she was holding back anger. She very rarely ever got mad.

“I wanted to apologize. For the things Amy and I said.”

Elise sighed. “Rory, I know my father isn’t perfect. He’s responsible for the deaths of our people. He’s impulsive and manipulative and when he gets mad, it’s downright scary. But I love him anyway. He’s the only real father I’ve ever known. I can look past his faults, because he’s done so much for me. I know I put him on a pedestal sometimes, but honestly doesn’t every other little girl do the same with their father?”

“So we’re good?”

Elise smiled and wrapped her arms around Rory. “Of course. I could never be angry at my Uncle Rory.” 


	29. Chapter 29

Amy, Rory, the Doctor, and Elise stepped out of the TARDIS into what looked to be a hotel.

“Let’s go to Ravan-Skala, he says. The people are six hundred feet tall. You have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Center is made of one of their hats, he says. I’m sorry, but I don’t see any huge hats,” Amy told him.

“Amy, Beaky, this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen.”

“You’re kidding,” Rory said as the Doctor ran up the staircase.

“How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?” Amy asked.

“Because, assembled Ponds and Elise, this is not Earth. This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?”

Elise loved her father, but she had to admit he had some weird interests.

They made their way back to the reception area where the TARDIS parked.

“What? Then where are we?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor said, “Something must have yanked us off course. Look at the detail on that cheese plant!” He walked over to the plant and sniffed the leaf.

“Right, but who would mock up an Earth hotel?” Rory asked.

The Doctor picked an apple from a bowl sitting on a table and tossed it in the air. “Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca.” The Doctor took a bite of the apple.

“Thought you didn’t like apples?” Elise asked him, a smirk on her face.

“Oi. Hush you! Whoever did this, I am shaking his/her hand/tentacle.”

Rory walked over to a wall of pictures. “Have you seen these? Look at the labels underneath. Commander Halke, defeat. Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear, Daleks.”

Amy joined him. “Bruce Barnes, other people’s socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth? Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla. Doctor, what does it mean?”

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.” He rang the bell on the desk and three people appeared.

One was a woman holding a chair leg, another was a man holding a lamp, and the third was some type of alien holding a white flag.

“Blimey, that was a bit quick,” the Doctor said.

“We surrender!” the alien said.

“No, it’s okay, we’re not…” Rory told him.

“We surrender!”

“We’re nice.”

“She’s threatening me with a chair leg!” the Doctor said, pointing at the woman in scrubs.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Oh god, we’re back in reception,” the man said.

“We surrender!” the alien repeated.

“I’ve never been threatened with a chair leg before. No, hang on, I tell a lie,” the Doctor told them.

“Did you just say, it’s okay, we’re nice?” Amy asked Rory.

“Okay, I need everyone to shut up, now,” the woman said.

“Rita, be careful, yeah?” the man said.

“Their pupils are dilated. They’re as surprised as we are. Besides which, if it’s a trick, it’ll tell us something,” Rita rattled off.

The Doctor smiled. “Oh, you’re good. Oh, she’s good. Amy, with regret, you’re fired.”

“What?” Amy snapped.

“I’m kidding.” He turned to Rita and made a telephone gesture, mouthing, “We’ll talk.” The Doctor turned to the alien. “I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you’re from Tivoli.”

“Yes. The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here. I’m Gibbis, by the way.”

“You with the face, Howie, you said you were surprised to be back in reception.”

“The walls move. Everything changes,” Howie explained.

“You, clever one. What’s he talking about?”

“The corridors twist and stretch. Rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It’s like the hotel’s alive,” Rita told him.

The Doctor walked over to the radio and turned the music off. “That’s quite enough of that.”

“Yeah, and it’s huge, with, like, no way out,” Howie said.

“Have you tried the front door?” Rory asked.

“No. In two days it never occurred to us to try the front door. Thank God you’re here,” Rita deadpanned, causing Amy to laugh.

The Doctor soniced the doors before opening them. “They’re not doors, they’re walls. Walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or dwalls. Woors even, though you’d probably got it when you said they’re not doors. I mean, the windows are…” He pulled back the curtain to reveal more bricks. “Right, big day if you’re a fan of walls.”

“It’s not just that. The rooms have…things in them,” Rita said.

“Things? Hello! What kind of things?” the Doctor asked, “Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone.”

“Bad dreams.”

“Well, that killed the mood. How did you get here?”

“I don’t know. I’d just started my shift. I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here.”

“I was blogging. Next thing, this,” Howie said.

“Oh, I was at work. I’m in Town Planning. We’re lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade,” Gibbis explained, “Which is nice for them.”

“So, what have we got? People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms.” The Doctor took a Rubik’s cube from his pocket and tossed it. “Well, apart from anything else, that’s just rude.”

They made their back down to the first floor landing.

“We’ll pop back to the TARDIS, I’ll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, and then we’ll have a sing song,” the Doctor told them.

They stopped when they realized the TARDIS was gone.

“Where’s the TARDIS? You parked it there, didn’t you?” Amy asked.

“What’s a TARDIS?” Howie asked.

“Our way out. And it’s gone,” Rory said.

Elise opened her mouth to say something, but the Doctor hushed her again.

Suddenly, the radio started up again.

“Okay, this is bad. At the moment, I don’t know how bad, but certainly we’re three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good,” the Doctor said pacing, “Are there any more of you?”

“Joe. But he’s tied up right now,” Rita said.

“Doing what?”

“No, I mean he’s tied up right now.”

Rita, Gibbs, and Howie led them to the restaurant.

The man in question, Joe, was tied to a chair. The room was filled with dummies that stopped laughing as soon as they entered the room. Their heads turned towards the group and Elise grabbed onto to Rory’s arm.

“It’s okay,” he told her.

The Doctor walked up to Joe. “Hello. I’m the Doctor.”

“We’re going to die here.”

“Well, they certainly didn’t mention that in the brochure. Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?” The Doctor grabbed an empty chair and sat down in it at Joe’s table.

“Oh, it’s still me, Doctor, but I’ve seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon he shall feast.”

“Well, you’ve been here two days. What’s he waiting for?”

“We weren’t ready. We were still raw.”

“But now you’re what? Cooked?”

“If you like. Soon you will be, too. Be patient. First, find your room.”

“My room.”

“There’s a room here for everyone, Doctor. Even you.”

“You said you’d seen the light now.”

“Nothing else matters anymore. Only him. It’s like these things. I used to hate them. They make me laugh now.” Joe started laughing. “Gottle o’ geer. Gottle o’ geer!”

The dummies joined Joe in laughing.

“You should go. He’ll be here soon,” Joe told him.

“I think you should come with me.” He grabbed a luggage trolley and used it to wheel Joe back to the reception area. “Why you four? That’s what I don’t understand. Aside from all the other things I don’t understand,” the Doctor said. He turned off the radio again.

“What does it matter? Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us,” Gibbis said.

Elise thought the alien was rather pathetic. Living your life in constant fear? No thanks, she’d already done that in her first few years of life.

“First, we find the TARDIS. Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times,” the Doctor told them.

“Joe said, he will feast. Is there something here with us?” Rita asked.

Joe started laughing again.

“Something to add, Joe?” the Doctor asked him.

“Here comes a candle to light you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop.”

“Can we do something about him?” Howie asked.

Soon, they were wandering around the hotel.

Gibbis was wheeling Joe, who had his mouth taped shut. “Personally, I think you’ve got the right idea. Times like this, I think of my old school motto. Resistance Is Exhausting,” Gibbis said.

A man in his underwear with a whistle around his neck stepped out of room 158.

“Hello,” the Doctor said.

“Have you forgotten your PE kit again? Right, that’s it, you’re doing it in your pants!” the teacher yelled and then went back inside the room.

Behind them, Howie was staring at a door.

“Hey! Don’t!” the Doctor yelled, but it was too late.

Howie opened the door to reveal several girls.

“Oh, look, girls, it’s H-H-H-Howie!” the blonde said.

“What’s loser in K-K-K-Klingon?” a brunette asked.

“Shut the-the-the d-d-d-the door!” Howie stuttered.

The Doctor closed the door as Howie looked embarrassed.

“This is just some m-m-messed up CIA stuff. I'm…I'm…I’m telling you.”

The Doctor put an arm around his shoulder. “You’re right. Keep telling yourself that. It’s a CIA thing, nothing more.” They ventured up the staircase to the next floor.

Amy knelt down and picked up a couple of pieces of paper. “Look.”

There was a loud roaring noise.

“Okay, whatever that is, it’s not real, yeah?” Amy asked.

“No. No, I’m sure it isn’t, but just in case, let’s run away and hide anyway. In here,” the Doctor said.

Gibbis, Amy, Elise, Howie and the Doctor ducked into one of the rooms.

“Where’s Rory?” Elise asked.

The Doctor ran out of the room. “Rory, come on!”

“There was a…”

“Come on!”

Elise turned around and gasped.

There were Weeping Angels.

Elise backed away from them, not blinking, until she bumped into her father. Their last encounter had been less than pleasant. At least River at had been there.

“Don’t blink,” Amy said.

“What?” Howie asked.

The lights flickered and the angels moved closer.

Elise whimpered. The Doctor could feel her shaking as she tried to press herself closer to him.

“Amy, get back!” the Doctor said, grabbing them.

The lights kept flickering, but the angels didn’t move.

“Why haven’t they got us yet?” the Doctor asked. He stepped out behind Elise and walked towards them. He reached out, but his hand went through the angel.

“Amy, Elise, they’re not real,” he said.

“What?” Amy asked.

“They should have got us by now. Amy, look at me. Focus on me. It’s your bad dream, that’s all.”

“I don’t even think they’re for us,” Rory said.

They all looked and saw Gibbis hiding in the wardrobe as something stomped slowly down the hallway.

The Doctor walked towards the door.

“Doctor, what are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I’m sorry, I just have to see what it is. I just have to see.” He looked through the peep hole. “Oh, look at you. Oh, you are beautiful. Oh, dear. I think it’s going after Joe.” The Doctor opened the door and went out into the hallway. “Leave him alone!” He took off running.

Elise started to go after him, but Rory grabbed her. “I have to help him!” she told him.

“We can’t afford to get separated in this place.”

“But…”

“The Doctor will be fine. Just like he always is.”

Rory and older Amy’s words echoed in her head.

The Doctor and his ever faithful daughter.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 30! God, can you believe it? Just a few more chapters till the end! Are you ready?

After retrieving Joe, they went back to the restaurant. Joe was lying on a table while the Doctor scanned him.

Rita was making tea for everyone.

Howie and Rory were trying to find things to barricade the door with.

“If we can wedge a chair under the door handles, that should stop anything from getting in,” Rory said.

Rita walked over to the Doctor and Elise with mugs of tea.

“Thank you,” Elise said.

“What exactly happened to him?” Rita asked, gesturing to Joe.

“He died,” the Doctor told her.

“You are a medical doctor, aren’t you? You haven’t just got a degree in cheese-making or something.”

“No! Well, yes, both, actually. I mean, there is no cause. All his vital organs simply stopped, as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just taken…” The Doctor sniffed his mug. “…and this is a cup of tea.”

Well what else would it be? Elise wanted to say something, but the Doctor clearly wasn’t having any of her attitude on this trip. In human years, Elise would be classified as a teenager. Is that why she felt angry or sad all the time? Hormones?

“Of course, I’m British, it’s how we cope with trauma. That and tutting,” Rita said.

“But how did you make it?”

“All hotels should have a well stocked kitchen, even alien fake ones. I heard you talking when you arrived. Look, it’s no more ridiculous than Howie’s CIA theory, or mine.”

“Which is?”

“This is Jahannam.”

“You’re a Muslim.”

“Don’t be frightened.”

The Doctor laughed. “You think this is Hell.”

“The whole ‘80s hotel thing took me by surprise, though.”

“And all these fears and phobias wandering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?”

Rita sighed. “Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike.”

The Doctor chuckled. “I like you. You’re a right clever clogs. But this isn’t Hell, Rita.”

“You don’t understand. I say that without fear. Jahannam will play its tricks, and there’ll be times when I want to run and scream, but I’ve tried to live a good life, and that knowledge keeps me sane, despite the monsters and the bonkers rooms. Gibbis is an alien, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Okay. I’m going to file that under Freak Out About Later.”

“Doctor, look at this. I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it,” Amy said, handing over the paper she found earlier.

The Doctor playfully smacked her on the head with it. “My name is Lucy Hayward and I’m the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It’s funny. You don’t know what’s going to be in your room until you see it, then you realize it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I’d read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others, and how lucky they were. It’s all so clear now. I’m so happy. Praise him. Praise him.”

“Praise him,” Howie said.

Everyone’s heads turned towards him.

“What did you just say?” the Doctor asked.

“Nothing. Praise him!”

“This is what happened to Joe!” Gibbis shrieked.

“God, it’s going to come for me now,” Howie moaned.

“You’ll lead it right here.”

“I won’t leave you. I promise you. You have my word on that,” the Doctor reassured him.

“I don’t want to get eaten.”

“Calm down,” Amy said.

“He’s going to lead the creature right here!” Gibbis yelled.

Elise really wanted to hit him to get him to shut up.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver. It whirred loudly and everyone went quiet. “Thank you.”

“Don’t you see? He’ll lead it right here,” Gibbis said.

“What do you suggest?” Rita asked.

“Look, whatever it is out there, it’s obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now, tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I’m saying if it were to find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go. All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed. Is that too much to ask?!”

Elise opened her mouth to go off on Gibbis, but was cut off by Rita.

“It’s okay. I’ll stay with Howie. You take the others and go.”

“No. We stay together,” the Doctor said. The Doctor walked over to Gibbis. “Your civilization is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn’t quaint, it’s sly, aggressive. Its how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No one else dies today. Right?”

Gibbis nodded.

“Brilliant. Howie, any second, it’s going to possess you again. When it does, I’m going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them.”

They all sat down at a table, except Elise. She was too restless, so she settled for standing behind her father.

“I hope my mum’s all right, she’s going to be w-worried,” Howie said. Something came over him.

“Howie?” the Doctor asked.

Howie started smiling.

“Howie. Howie, you’re next. We’re all dead jealous. So, tell us. How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn’t he possessing all of us?”

Howie laughed. “You guys have got all these distractions, all these obstacles. It’d be so much easier if you just let it go, you know? Clear the path.”

“You want it to find you even though you know what it’s going to do?” Amy asked.

“Are you kidding? He’s going to kill us all. How cool is that?”

They all got up, leaving Howie at the table by himself.

“It’s as I thought. It feeds on fear. Everything, the rooms, Lucy’s note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to. Cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear,” the Doctor told them.

“Okay, but what are we actually going to do?” Amy asked.

“We’re going to catch ourselves a monster.”

They managed to trap the monster, which of course happened to be a Minotaur, in the spa.

“Quite fitting isn’t it? Labyrinth of a hotel?” Elise said, “Makes sense.”

“Nothing personal. I just think we should take things slowly. Get to know each other. You take people’s most primal fears and pop it in a room. A tailor-made hell, just for them. Why?” the Doctor asked.

The Minotaur snarled at them.

“Did you say they take? Ah, what is that word? The guard? No, the warden? This is a prison.” The Doctor turned and smiled at Elise. “My clever girl.”

Elise returned the smile.

“So what are we, cell mates? Lunch?”

The Minotaur growled.

“We are not ripe. This is what Joe said, that we weren’t ready.”

They stepped out of the shadows and faced him.

“So, what, what, you make us ready. You what? Replace? Replace what, fear? You have lived so long even your name is lost. You want this to stop. Because you are just instinct. Then tell me. Tell me how to fight you.”

Elise’s eyes filled with tears as her hearts broke for the Minotaur. He didn’t want to do this anymore. He wanted it to be over. She knew how he felt.

“My master, my lord. I’m here! Oh! Bring me death.”

“That’s Howie,” Elise said.

“No, no, no, no, no!”

The Minotaur put it’s large fist through the glass separating them.

“Rory, watch out!” the Doctor yelled.

Amy and Rita burst in.

“Stay back!”

The Minotaur smashed the glass and knocked Rory down.

Elise rushed to side. “Rory?” she asked.

“Where’d he go?” the Doctor asked Rory.

“Somebody hit me,” Rory said, “Was it Amy?”

The Doctor got up and ran down the hallway.

“Rory, are you all right?” Rita asked him.

“We should find the Doctor,” Amy said. She stood up and walked towards room 7. She opened the door.

Rita pulled her back and shut it.

Amy, Rory, Elise, and Rita met back up with the Doctor, who had already found Howie dead. They took Howie’s body and laid it out next to Joe’s in the restaurant.

Amy placed the goldfish on a side table in the reception area.

The Doctor walked past Elise and grabbed her arm.

“Where are we going? Why aren’t the others coming?” she asked.

“Because. We’re going to go find our rooms.”

Elise laughed sarcastically. “Okay, you’ve completely lost your mind.”

“C’mon. Don’t you want to know?” The Doctor smiled when he saw the curiosity in her eyes.

As they ventured through the hallway, they could hear whispers.

Elise walked past a door with a number 10 on it. It was calling to her to open it.

Elise looked at her father and he nodded. She opened the door and saw herself standing there. Over the bodies of everyone she cared about.

Her father. Both incarnations of him. Amy. Rory. River. Outside the window, Gallifrey was burning.

She stumbled back into her father’s arms as she let out a shuddering breath. She turned and buried her face in his neck.

“Shhh”, he cooed, as she stroked her hair.

He understood her greatest fear now. Being completely alone. Just like she had been in the last days of the Time War. Before he killed them all.

“Hey”, he said, pulling her away from him. He cupped her face in his hands as tears streamed down from her blue eyes. “I’m not gonna let that happen. Do you hear me?” he told her.

Elise nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead. She wiped her eyes and sniffled. “Did…did you find your room?” she asked.

He nodded and gestured to room 11.

Elise let out a watery laugh. “Of course.”

He opened the door, just enough to peak, before closing it and putting a Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob. “C’mon. We need to find the security room.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. Don't hate me. Please

They entered the security room and found a bank of screens.

The Doctor scanned them for the Minotaur. “Oh, you beauty. Come on, big fellow, where are you?”

“Dad,” Elise said pointing to one of the screens.

It was Rita. She was walking around the corridors for some reason.

“Rita, where are you going?” the Doctor asked. He grabbed the phone and dialed room 311.

Rita stopped walking.

“Come on, come on, come on! Come on.”

Rita went into the room and answered the phone.

“Rita, where are you going? Can you take the phone into the corridor? Will it reach?” the Doctor asked.

She came out into the hallway, phone in hand.

“You started to praise it, didn’t you?”

Rita nodded.

“Rita, come back, please. We’ll find a way to stop it, I swear to you.”

With the camera zoomed in on Rita, Elise could read her lips. “No, I need to get as far away from you all as possible.”

“No, no, no, you don’t. The creature only wants whoever’s praising it.”

“And then you’ll put yourself in its way.”

“I’m coming to get you. Block out the fear and stay focused on your belief.”

“The hotel will keep us apart. I could be 50 miles away by now.”

There was a growl.

“I want you to do me one last favor, Doctor. I can feel the rapture approaching, like a wave. I don’t want you to witness this. I want you to remember me the way I was.”

Amy and Rory entered the security room.

“What’s going on? Rita’s disappeared,” Amy said. She spotted Rita on the screen. “What’s she doing there?”

“Rita. Rita, please. Let me find you,” the Doctor begged.

“You stay where you are. Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private.”

“Look, Rita. Rita. Go into the room. Lock the door.”

“I’m not frightened. I’m blessed, Doctor.”

The Minotaur was approaching her.

“I’m at peace. I’m going to hang up.”

“No. No, no, Rita.”

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

“Rita!”

“Thank you for trying.”

“Rita, please! Please! Please.” The Doctor collapsed in the chair in front of the screens.

Rita was smiling as the shadow of Minotaur creeped up on her.

The Doctor soniced the monitor off and stormed out of the room.

Amy, Rory, and Elise followed after him.

They made their way to the bar after picking up Rita’s body. The Doctor was now smashing things and yelling in a rage.

“Dad…” Elise cooed, trying to calm him.

The Doctor whirled around and grabbed her around the wrists, slamming her into the wall.

“Let go of me!” Elise yelled.

“You have no idea how I feel right now! You don’t know anything!”

“You’re hurting me!” Elise screamed, tears filling her eyes.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Oh of course you’re going to cry. God, do you know how annoying that is? You’ve been nothing but a burden since you came into my life. Always having to worry about where you are or what might happen to you. I should have left you in that mansion. Maybe I should have found you a human family. You’re not worthy to call yourself a Timelord.”

The Doctor’s words felt like knives in her hearts. Was he just saying this? Did he mean it?

He stared at her for a moment before he came back to himself. He looked down and his eyes widened in horror when he saw his hands wrapped tightly around her wrists. He let go and Elise slid down the wall, shaking. “Elise. Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” He knelt down and reached out for her.

“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked.

“Ellie…”

Elise shied away from his touch and curled into a ball, pressing herself closer to the wall. Whatever trust between them had been shattered.

The Doctor got up and sat down a table by himself. “Okay. It preys on people’s fear and possesses them. But Rita wasn’t afraid. She was brave and calm. Maybe it’s something to do with the people, some connection between the four of you that’ll tell me how to fight it.”

“Yes, you keep saying that, but you never do. And while we wait, people keep dying. And we’ll be next,” Gibbis said.

“Look, he’ll work it out. He always does,” Amy told him, “Just let him riff and move anything expensive out of his way.”

The Doctor looked over at Elise, who wasn’t shaking anymore but staring off into the distance.

The Doctor and his ever faithful daughter.

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no.”

“Doctor, what is wrong?” Amy asked.

“It’s not fear. It’s faith. Not just religious faith, faith in something.” The Doctor stood up and walked towards them.

“Howard believed in conspiracies, that external forces controlled the world. Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose. Gibbis has rejected any personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to oppress him and tell him what to do. They all believe there’s something guiding them, about to save them. That’s what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith.”

The Doctor sat down at the bar and rubbed a hand over his face. “And all this time, I have been telling you to dig deep, find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed.”

“But why us? Why are we here?” Rory asked.

“It doesn’t want you. That’s why it kept showing you a way out. You’re not religious or superstitious, so there’s no faith for you to fall back on. It wants her.” The Doctor pointed at Amy.

Elise’s faith in him had been temporarily halted, so Amy was the only candidate left besides Gibbis.

“Me?” Amy asked. She got up and joined the Doctor at the bar. “Why?”

“Your faith in me. That’s what brought us here.”

“But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping…it?” Rory asked.

“It needs to convert the faith into a form it can consume. Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live,” the Doctor explained, “Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said…”

“Praise him,” Amy finished.

“Exactly.”

“No. Oh, please, no,” Rory begged.

The Minotaur was coming after Amy next.

The Doctor walked over to Elise and knelt down next to her. “Elise. I’m going to touch you, okay?” he asked. He hated having to treat her like a frightened animal. He put his hands on her arms and said, “I need you to stand up.”

Elise stumbled to her feet.

“Amy needs our help.”

“I know,” Elise told him, “I was listening. I always listen when you talk.”

The Doctor pressed his lips to her forehead.

They would be okay.

Soon they were running through the hallways with the Minotaur chasing them.

Amy stopped and looked back at the Minotaur.

“Amy? What are you doing?” the Doctor asked.

“He is beautiful.”

The Doctor and Rory grabbed her.

“Leave her! Just leave her!” Gibbis yelled.

“Shut up! We are not leaving her!” Elise yelled at him.

The Doctor and Rory dragged her into a room where they found little Amelia sitting on her suitcase staring out at the stars.

Rory and Elise used their body weight to try and keep the door shut as the Minotaur pounded at it.

Amy dropped to her knees. “Doctor, it’s happening. It’s changing me. It’s changing my thoughts.”

The Doctor knelt beside her. “I can’t save you from this. There’s nothing I can do to stop this.”

“What?”

“I stole your childhood and now I’ve led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens.”

The Minotaur burst in, knocking Elise and Rory back.

“Forget your faith in me. I took you with me because I was vain. Because I wanted to be adored.” The Doctor reached out and stroked her hair. “Look at you. Glorious Pond, the girl who waited for me. I’m not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it’s time we saw each other as we really are.”

He kissed her forehead as the Minotaur stumbled backward. “Amy Williams, it’s time to stop waiting.”

The Minotaur collapsed in the hallway and Elise scrambled to her feet. She knelt beside the creature as the lights flickered.

“I severed the food supply, sacrificing their faith in me. I gave you the space to die,” the Doctor said.

“It’s okay. It’s over now,” Elise said, stroking his snout, “You won’t be alone.”

The hotel around them dissolved.

“What is it, a minotaur or an alien? Or an alien Minotaur?” Amy asked, “That’s not a question I thought I’d be asking this morning.”

“It’s both, actually. Yeah. Here we go.” The Doctor walked over to a holographic database. “Distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as gods to be worshipped. Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons.”

“Correction. Prisons in space,” Rory said.

“Where are the guards?” Amy asked.

“No need for any. It’s all automated. It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature,” the Doctor explained.

The Minotaur groaned softly.

“Shhh,” Elise cooed, “It’s alright.” She placed her forehead on his, reading his thoughts.

“What’s it saying?” Amy asked.

“An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift,” Elise translated.

The Doctor placed a hand on his. “Then accept it, and sleep well.” The Doctor stood up and started to walk away.

“I wasn’t talking about myself,” Elise said.

The Doctor turned and his eyes met Elise’s as the Minotaur died.

Elise sniffled and placed a kiss between his eyes.

They stepped out of the TARDIS onto a normal street across from a house with a blue door.

“Don’t tell me. This isn’t Earth, that isn’t a real house. And inside lives a goblin, who feeds on indecision,” Amy said.

“No. Real Earth, real house, real door keys,” the Doctor said, tossing her a keyring.

“You’re not serious?”

“The car too? But, that’s my favorite car. How did you know that was my favorite car?” Rory asked.

“You showed me a picture of it once and said this is my favorite car.”

“Rory, can you give us two minutes? Two minutes?” Amy asked.

Rory turned to the Doctor. “She’ll say that we can’t accept it because it’s too extravagant and we’ll always feel a crippling sense of obligation. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Rory started to head inside the house.

Elise followed him, not needing to be told.

Rory and Elise entered the house. It was nice.

“Something wrong?” Rory asked her.

“No. I’m fine. It’s just…I can never have this.”

“You don’t know that.”

“But I do. I’ve accepted that it’s probably always going to be me and the Doctor in the TARDIS. The Doctor and his ever faithful daughter.”

“There’s someone out there for you. I know it. Pretty Timelord like you. Probably have all the boys knocking down your door.”

Elise laughed. “Thanks, Rory.” She hugged him. “It’s not goodbye.”

“I know.”

Elise pulled back and kissed his cheek. “See you later, Rory.”

“You too, Elise.”

Elise left the house, saying goodbye to Amy as well, before entering the TARDIS. “We need to talk about what happened,” Elise said.

“Okay.”

There was fire in her blue eyes as she spoke. “Don’t you ever. Ever. Lay your hands on me again. The next time you do, you’ll be lucky to escape with your life. I will not let anyone, not even you, push me around. Do I make myself clear?”

The Doctor smiled.

“What?” Elise snapped.

“You look like your mother when you’re angry.”

Elise’s mouth opened and closed, unable to come up with anything to say. How could he make her anger fizzle out like that? “Ugh! I hate you!”

“No you don’t.”


	32. Chapter 32

Elise and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS.

“Why are you still wearing that coat?” Elise asked him.

“What’s wrong with my coat?”

“I don’t like it.”

The Doctor looked around. “Ugh! This isn’t the Alignment of Exedor!”

“Well if the TARDIS dropped us here, it was for a reason.” Elise looked around, trying to figure out where they were. “Hold up. Isn’t this where we met Craig?”

The Doctor smiled. “Good old Craig! We should drop in for a visit!” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

They followed the signal until they came to a house where the Doctor knocked on the door. The door swung open and there stood Craig.

“I’m coping on my own!” he yelled at them.

It reminded Elise of their first encounter with them.

“Hello, Craig. We’re back!” the Doctor told him.

“She didn't…How could she phone you? Who is she?”

Of course Craig didn’t recognize Elise. She’d been a child back then.

“How could who phone me? Nobody phoned me, I’m just here. And this is Elise. Who else would it be?”

Elise waved. “Hi, Craig. It’s nice to see you again.”

The Doctor poked his head into the doorway. “Oh, you’ve redecorated. I don’t like it.”

“It’s a different house. We moved,” Craig told him.

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Doctor, what are you doing here?”

“Social call. Thought it was about time I tried one out. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“This is the bit where I say I’m fine too, isn’t it? I’m fine, too. Good. Love to Sophie. Bye.”

The Doctor and Elise turned to leave when the lights started flickering.

“Something’s wrong.”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and ran back into the house. Elise ran after him. “On your own, you said. But you’re not. You’re not on your own,” the Doctor said, heading up the staircase.

“Just shush,” Craig said.

“Increased sulfur emissions. And look at the state of this place. What are you not telling me?”

“Doctor, please.”

“Shush.”

“No, you shush.”

“Shush!”

“Shush!”

“No, you shush!”

“Doctor!”

Elise rolled her eyes as the Doctor opened a bedroom door.

“Whatever you are, get off this planet,” he said, his sonic screwdriver drawn.

It was a baby’s room. The baby started crying.

“You’ve woken him!” Craig snapped. He picked the baby up and cradled him to his chest. “Oh, now he’ll never get to sleep again.”

“Can I try?” Elise asked.

The two men looked at her.

Craig handed her the baby and it quieted down.

They went downstairs to the kitchen, the baby securely in Elise’s arms.

The Doctor sat down at the kitchen table while Elise walked around the kitchen. “So when you say on your own…” the Doctor started.

“Yes, I meant on my own with the baby. Yes. Because no one thinks I can cope on my own. Which is so unfair, because I can’t cope on my own with him. I can’t. He just cries all the time. I mean, do they have off switches?” Craig asked.

“Human beings. No. Believe me, I’ve checked.”

“No, babies.”

“Same difference.”

“I’m rubbish at this.”

“At what?”

“Being a dad. You read all the books, and they tell you you’ll know what to do if you follow your instincts. I have no instinct. I mean look at Elise, she’s never even had a kid and she’s perfect!”

“Well she’s a female. It’s different.” The Doctor looked at his daughter. Her blue eyes were bright and happy. Holding a baby looked so natural to her. He smiled. Maybe she would have kids one day. Maybe he’d have grandchildren again. Of course they would have to be with…

Craig’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “That’s what this weekend’s about, trying to prove to people I can do this one thing well.”

“So, what did you call him? Will I blush?” the Doctor asked.

“No, we didn’t call him the Doctor.”

“No, I didn’t think you would.”

“He’s called Alfie. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Yes, he likes that, Alfie, though personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord Of All.”

“Sorry, what?”

“That’s what he calls himself.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I speak baby.”

“Of course you do. I don’t even know when his nappy needs changing, and I’m the one supposed to be his dad. Oh!” Craig sat down in a kitchen chair and put his face in his hands.

“Yeah. He’s wondering where his mum is? Where is Sophie?” The Doctor put his hands on Craig’s shoulders and started to massage them.

“She’s gone away with Melina for the weekend. She needs a rest.”

“No, he’s your dad. You can’t just call him Not Mum.”

“Not Mum?”

“That’s you. Also Not Mum, that’s me.” The Doctor chuckled.

“What?” Elise asked.

“You and your blue eyes.”

Elise smiled. Baby Melody (and grown up Melody) had mentioned her blue eyes.

“Everybody else is peasants. That’s a bit unfortunate,” the Doctor said.

“What are you here for? What’s happening?” Craig asked.

“I just popped in to say hello.”

“You don’t do that. I checked upstairs when we moved, it’s real. And next door, both sides, they’re humans. Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?”

Elise giggled.

“I just want to see you, Craig! Cross my hearts.” The Doctor made a crossing motion over his hearts. “Elise and I, we’ve been knocking about out on our own for a bit. Bit of a farewell tour for me. One last thing, popping in to see you, then we’re off to the Alignment of Exedor.”

“The Alignment of Exedor?”

“Seventeen galaxies in perfect unison. Meant to be spectacular. I can’t miss it. Literally can’t. It’s locked in a time stasis field. I get one crack at flying my TARDIS straight into it, if I get my dates right.” He picked up a newspaper to check. “Which I have.”

“With my help of course,” Elise said with a smug smile.

“Sounds nice,” Craig told them.

The Doctor picked up the newspaper and looked through it. “So this is me, popping in and popping out again. Just being social. Just having a laugh. Never mind that.”

“Never mind what?”

“Nothing.”

Craig got up. “No, you’ve noticed something. You’ve got your noticing face on. I have nightmares about that face.”

“Ooo, nope, given up all that. Done noticing things.”

The light flickered.

“I didn’t even notice that, for example. Well, got to go. Good seeing you, Craig. Goodbye, Stormageddon.”

Elise set Alfie down in his high chair and kissed his head. Elise and the Doctor started to leave.

“Hang on. You said farewell tour. What do you mean, farewell?” Craig asked.

The Doctor ignored the question as they left. “Just go. Stop noticing. Just go. Stop noticing, just go. Stop noticing, just go. Stop it. Am I noticing? No. No, I am not,” the Doctor muttered.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area. “And what I am not doing is scanning for electrical fluctuations.” He checked the results. “Oh, shut up, you. I’m just dropping in on a friend. The last thing I need right now is a patina of teleport energy. I’m going. Do you hear me? Going. Not staying, going. I am through saving them. I am going away now.” The Doctor turned and looked at Elise, who had her arms folded over her chest. He sighed.

Elise was folding up some infant sweaters when her father and Craig came out of the toy department. She caught up with them.

The Doctor immediately took his hands off Alfie’s stroller, allowing Elise to push it. “These funny old power fluctuations which just happen to coincide with the disappearances,” the Doctor said.

“That’s just the council putting in new cables, isn’t it?” Craig asked.

They stopped at a lift that said “Out of Order.”

“Oh yes, that’s it. Mystery solved.” The Doctor smacked himself in the forehead. “Wasting my time. Now, you can go home and I can go to Exedor. Goodbye.” He soniced the button to the lift. “And here’s the lift.”

“It says it’s out of order.”

“Not any more. See?” The Doctor ripped off the caution tape. “Here to help.”

Craig entered the lift. “It says danger.”

“Oh, rubbish. Lifts aren’t dangerous.”

Elise looked at him.

“Okay. Besides that one time.”

“Do I look like I’m stupid?” Craig asked.

Alfie cooed, causing the Doctor to laugh. “Quiet, Stormy. Oh, all right. There’s more,” he said.

They all got into the lift, which made Elise slightly uncomfortable.

“Just between you, me, Elise, and Stormy, don’t want to frighten me punters. Someone’s been using a teleport relay right here in this shop. Missing people last seen in this area.” The Doctor put his finger on Craig’s lips. “Before you ask, CCTV’s been wiped.”

“A teleport? A teleport? A teleport like, a beam me up teleport, like you see in Star Trek?”

“Exactly. Someone’s been using a beam me up Star Trek teleport. Could be disguised as anything.”

“But a teleport in a shop? That’s ridiculous!”

The lights flickered and they were suddenly standing in a spaceship.

“What was that? Was that the lights again?” Craig asked.

“Yes, that’s it. That’s all. It’s the lights,” the Doctor said in a high pitched squeaky voice.

Elise tried to keep calm as she grabbed the back of her father’s shirt.

“Why did you say that like that?”

“Like what?” The Doctor lowered the pitch of his voice. “Like what?”

“Like that, in that high pitched voice.”

“Just keep looking at me, Craig. Right at me. Just keep looking.”

“Why?”

“Well, because, because…”

Craig started to turn around.

The Doctor grabbed him. “Because I love you.”

“You love me?”

“Yes, Craig. It’s you. It’s always been you.”

“Me?”

“Is that so surprising?” The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and put his arms around Craig’s neck.

Elise pulled out her own and had it mimic whatever the Doctor was doing. Whatever got them out of this awkward situation the quickest.

“Doctor, are you going to kiss me?”

“Yes, Craig. Yes, I am. Would you like that? Bit out of practice, but I’ve had some wonderful feedback.”

“Doctor, no. I can’t. I’m taken.”

Craig turned his head and looked behind him. “Oh, my God!”

Elise felt bad for Craig.

“Or we could just hold hands if it make you’d feel more comfortable.”

“What is happening?”

“Well, first of all, I don’t really love you, except as a friend.”

“What is that!”

A Cyberman was coming towards them.

The Doctor finally set his screwdriver to the correct setting and they were back inside the lift. “Quick reverse.”

“What the hell just happened?” Craig asked.

They stepped out of the lift, back into the children’s department.

“They must have linked the teleport relay to the lift, but I’ve fused it. They can’t use that again. Stuck up there on their spaceship,” the Doctor explained.

They entered the Home department.

“What were those things?” Craig asked.

“Cybermen,” Elise answered.

“Ship. A spaceship. We were in space?”

They exited the department store. It was now dark outside and the Doctor had on the coat Elise hated.

“It’s got to be up there somewhere. Can’t get a fix. It must be shielded,” the Doctor said.

“But you fused the teleport. You sorted it. They can’t come back,” Craig told him.

“No, no, no, I’ve just bought myself a little time. Still got to work out what they’re doing before I can stop it.”

“But if they’ve got the teleport and they’re that evil, why haven’t they invaded already?”

“Craig, take Alfie and go.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. I remember from last time, people got killed. People that didn’t know you. I know where it’s safest for me and Alfie, and that’s right next to you.”

Elise admired Craig’s loyalty to the Doctor. It almost rivaled her own.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. You always win. You always survive.”

“Those were the days.”

“I can help you. I’m staying.”

“Craig. Craig. All right. All right, maybe those days aren’t quite over yet. Let’s go and investigate. I mean, there’s no immediate danger now.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated in forever, but a lot of stuff has been going on.

They re-entered the department store and made their way to jewelry section.

“Good afternoon, Val,” the Doctor said to an older woman working the counter.

“Hello.”

“Where am I investigating?” Craig asked the Doctor.

“Well, look round. Ask questions. People like it when you’re with a baby. Babies are sweet. People talk to you. That’s why I usually take a human with me.”

“So, I’m your baby?”

“You’re my baby.” The Doctor hugged Craig before he left.

“Hope you don’t mind me saying, Doctor, but I think you look ever so sweet, you and your partner and the baby,” Val said.

Elise fought the urge to laugh. The older woman also assumed that that she and the Doctor were brother and sister, going off how similar in age they looked.

The Doctor put on a pair of sunglasses, then took them off. “Partner. Yes, I like it. Is it better than companion?”

“Companion sounds old-fashioned. There’s no need to be coy these days.”

“You’ve not noticed anything unusual around here lately, Val?”

“Well…”

“Yes, yes?”

Val leaned in close to the Doctor. “Mary Warnock saw Don Petheridge snogging Andrea Groom outside the Conservative Club on his so-called day off golfing.”

“Yeah. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

The Doctor air-kissed her on the cheeks and then started to walk away.

“And then there’s that silver rat thing.”

The Doctor turned around, smiling. “What?”

Val explained what she had seen. She thought it was a toy, so they searched the toy department.

“A silver rat, glowing red eyes,” the Doctor said, standing up. He had been scanning underneath a table.

“Yes. Then it zizzed off. I wanted to get one for my nephew, but stockroom say there’s no such item,” Val told him.

“I bet they do.”

“Well, what was it then? Answer me that.”

They heard a crashing sound and Craig yelling, “Whoa!”

“What’s all that hullabaloo?” Val asked.

“Er, that’ll be my partner with the er…” Elise and the Doctor hurried off and found Craig in the ladies underwear section.

“Hello, everyone. Here to help!” the Doctor said.

“Hello, Doctor. Elise,” Kelly said.

“Hello, Doctor. Hello, Elise,” George, the manager, greeted.

“Hello. Has anyone seen a silver rat?”

Kelly and George shook their heads.

“No. Okay. Long shot. I see you’ve met my friend, Craig. Nice uniform, George.”

“Thank you, Doctor. If he’s with you, that’s all right, then,” George said.

“Sorry. I thought he was hassling me, because that’s the last thing I need today, because Shona’s not turned up, right, so I’m doing twice the work for the same money, if you don’t mind…” Kelly ranted.

“Kelly, if you needed help, you should’ve said something,” Elise told her.

“Shona?” the Doctor asked.

“My supervisor. She’s meant to be in today but never showed up,” Kelly told him.

“Well, where did you last see her?”

“She was going to clean up the changing rooms.”

Craig, Elise, and the Doctor entered the changing rooms.

The Doctor looked through a curtain and a woman screamed. “Er, sorry, Madam. I’d try that in red if I were you.”

“I did exactly what you would have done, and I nearly got arrested,” Craig told him.

Alfie cooed.

“Stormy thinks you should believe in yourself more.”

“Great. So now my baby’s reviewing me.”

The Doctor soniced the changing booths. “Here. Right here. Last night. A Cyberman took Shona.”

“A Cyberman? I thought it was a little silver rat.”

“It’s not a rat. It’s a Cybermat.”

“All right. Don’t have a go at me just because I don’t know the names.”

They exited the changing rooms back into the ladies section.

“Cybermats are infiltrators. Very small, very deadly. They collect power like bees collect pollen. One of them’s been sucking the electrical energy from this area. But why a shop? You know, why not a nuclear power station?” the Doctor asked.

“Okay, why?” Craig asked.

“Let’s ask it. We wait for the shop to shut. We stake the place out and grab ourselves a Cybermat.”

“And this is just a coincidence, is it?”

“What is?”

“Aliens in Colchester. Aliens twice in my life, happening to me, just when you turn up.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is not my fault, Craig.”

Alfie started crying. Everything in Elise wanted to comfort him and try to find out what was wrong.

“Oh, shush. Look what you’ve done now,” Craig snapped.

“It’s his nappy. He’s mentioned it twice,” the Doctor told him.

“Well sorry, I don’t speak baby, do I.”

“There’s a changing station over by Electrical Goods.”

“And of course, you’d know that. Come on, Alfie.” Craig stormed off with Alfie.

“Craig! It’s a coincidence! It happens. It’s what the universe does for…” The Doctor turned and saw Amy and Rory walking towards them.

A little girl walked up to Amy. “Can I have your autograph, please?”

“Er, yeah. Sure,” Amy said.

“…Fun,” the Doctor finished.

“What’s your name?” Amy asked her.

“Ellie.”

Amy smiled and took the notepad from Ellie. “To Ellie. My best friend calls his daughter Ellie. I like your hairband.”

“Thank you.”

The Doctor and Elise hid behind some racks of clothing.

Amy handed the notepad to Ellie. “There you go.”

“Thank you.”

Amy and Rory left as the Ellie’s mother walked up. Ellie pointed towards them and they turned to see perfume advertisement on the wall with Amy’s face.

It was called “Petrichor – For the Girl Who’s Tired of Waiting”.

The Doctor smiled. “Amelia Pond.”

They stayed in the store until it closed and then started searching for the Cybermat.

The Doctor was scanning with his screwdriver. “Right, let’s be having you then, Cybermat.”

Alfie started crying.

Craig hushed him. “Can’t you put that on quiet?” he asked.

“No. It’s a sonic screwdriver. Sonic equals sound.” The Doctor pulled something out of his coat and handed it to Craig. “Take this. I got it on my discount, ten percent off. It’s a papoose.” The papoose was a far cry better than the harness he used to carry Elise in.

“Why do I need a papoose?” Craig asked.

“Alfie wants you attached to him. You are far too slow when he summons you.”

“When’s he going to stop giving me marks?”

“Never. That’s parenthood. Even when they’re grown-up.”

Elise smacked her father on the arm.

“See? Couldn’t you have just got a babysitter?” Alfie cooed.

“No, any babysitter. Doesn’t have to be a hot one.”

Alfie cooed again.

“I wouldn’t know. She’s my daughter.”

Elise blushed. She’d never really thought of herself as ‘hot’ despite what Amy and Rory told her.

“I told everyone I know I didn’t need their help this weekend,” Craig told the Doctor.

“Well.”

“They won’t even answer my calls. I didn’t know there was going to be an invasion of Cyberman.” Craig hushed Alfie.

“It’s okay,” the Doctor said.

Elise shoved the two men aside and picked up Alfie, helping him to get situated in the papoose.

The Cybermat chose at that moment to appear. The Doctor pulled out his butterfly net and trapped it. “Ah ha! That’s very odd. It must be on low power. Or I’m better at that than I remember.”

“Oh, is that it?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, that’s quite cute. Look at that. Look, Alfie, look.”

The Cybermat opened its mouth to reveal incredibly sharp teeth. All three of them yelled in shock.

The Doctor soniced the Cybermat.

“Metal rat, real mouth! Metal rat, real mouth,” Craig repeated.

“Yes, I know it is.”

“Metal rat, real mouth.”

“Stop screaming. Stop, stop screaming.”

Craig quieted down and then they heard a scream.

“Come on!” the Doctor yelled. He ran off without Elise and Craig.

Elise pulled out her screwdriver and used it to track the Doctor down to the basement. “Dad!” she yelled, seeing him lying on the floor. She put her fingers on his pulse (like Rory had taught her) and felt the drumming beneath his skin. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Doctor! Doctor! Doctor! What happened?” Craig asked as the Doctor regained consciousness.

“Oh, I’ve been, I’ve been chipped…chapped…chopped. The Cyberman. It killed George, took him back to the ship.”

“The Cybermen are here? But you said…”

The Doctor stumbled to his feet with the help of Elise. “Yeah, I know what I said. I say a lot of things. But I fused the teleport. It should have taken them days to repair.”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, I should be dead, but the arm it chopped me with, it was damaged. Old spare parts. Must have changed those missing people.”

“They’ve changed the missing into Cybermen? Why didn’t they change you?”

“A long story. I’m not exactly compatible. But why are they using spare parts? Why? Everything I find out makes less sense.”

“Doctor, listen to me. If the Cybermen are here, then we’re not safe. We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go back to base.”

“We’ve got a base? When did we get a base?”

Their base was Craig’s house un-ironically.

The Doctor and Craig were downstairs in the kitchen, while Elise was upstairs in Alfie’s room.

Was it dangerous to let her get so attached to him? Especially when they’d probably never see Craig or Alfie again?

Alfie woke up and started crying.

Elise got up and picked him up, cradling him to her chest. “Hey. It’s okay. I envy you. Silly, I know isn’t it? You get to grow up in a house with two parents who love you so much. You’ll go to school and make friends. You’ll learn about wonderful things and some not so wonderful things. And you know what? That’s alright. Because life is made up beautiful and ugly things. You and I, we’re at the beginning.”

Alfie gurgled and Elise laughed. “I know I may not look it, but I’ve barely just started. Maybe when you’re older, I’ll take you away in my TARDIS. We’ll travel the stars and see so many extraordinary things. Hey, maybe you can be my companion!”

Elise heard a soft laugh from behind her. She turned to see her father standing there.

He walked up to them. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother.” The Doctor kissed her temple and stroked her hair. He turned to Alfie. “Your dad’s trying his best, you know.”

Alfie whined.

“Yes, I know it’s not his fault he doesn’t have mammary glands. No, neither do I.” The Doctor blushed.

“What?” Elise asked.

“I’m not going to repeat that. Alfie, why is there a sinister beeping coming from behind us?”

They turned and saw that Cybermat chomping its teeth.

“Oh, no you don’t,” the Doctor said. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and soniced it.

“Come on, Elise. Run! It’s only stunned. Elise, take him outside.”

Elise nodded and hurried out onto the patio with him, the Doctor following close behind.

He turned to go back inside, but the door was locked. “Oops. Elise, please tell me you have your sonic on you.”

Elise shook her head. “I’m sorry. I think I left it Alfie’s room.”

The Doctor pulled out a phone and dialed Craig. “Come on, Craig, pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up.” He got Craig’s voicemail instead. “Craig? Don’t worry. Alfie is fine. But on no account enter the house.”

“Doctor!” Craig yelled.

They turned and saw Craig fighting off the Cybermat.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

“Alfie!”

The Doctor ran and crashed through the glass door.

“Where’s Alfie? Where’s Alfie?” Craig asked.

“He’s safe. He’s safe!”

“Get it off me!”

The Doctor picked up his screwdriver. “I think I can find the right frequency, shut it down again!”

“Kill it!”

“All right, all right, all right! Move!” The Doctor hit it with a large pan.

Craig got up and it attacked the Doctor. “Argh! Baking tray, Craig. Baking tray!”

Craig pinned it to the floor with the baking tray.

“Hold it down!” the Doctor yelled.

“Get on with it!”

“Ah, it must be shielded from metastatic energy. Of course.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t worry, I have an app for that. Stand back. Stand back!” The Doctor zapped the Cybermat. “Success. That was amazing. You must be really, really strong. That thing should have had you easily.”

“Is it definitely dead?” Craig asked.

“Inactive, yes. Technically never been alive. It was playing possum before, to take us by surprise. Bravo.” The Doctor clapped as the two of them panted.

“Alfie!” Craig yelled.

Elise came inside the house, holding him. “It’s okay. He’s alright.” She handed Alfie to his father.

Seeing Craig with Alfie made the Doctor slightly sad that he never got to experience that with Elise.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter before the series finale!

Craig paced the living room floor with Alfie in his arms as the Doctor worked on the Cybermat. Craig yawned. “I’m knackered. That thing was eating up the electricity?”

“And transmitting it up to the Cybership. But why? Why do they need power? Why are those conversions not complete yet, and what are they doing up there?” the Doctor asked.

“You said you were going to look at its brain.”

“No, I had to wipe its brain. Now I can reprogram it and use it as a weapon against them.”

Craig sat down next to the Doctor on the couch. “The Cybermat came after us?”

“No, after me.”

“They sent it after us.”

“After me. Because of me, you and Alfie nearly died.” The Doctor stopped working on the Cybermat. “Do you still feel safe with me, Craig?”

“You can’t help who your mates are.”

“No. I am a stupid, selfish man. Always have been. I should have made you go. I should never have come here.”

“What would have happened if you hadn’t come? Who else knows about the Cybermen and teleports?”

“I put people in danger.”

“Stop beating yourself up. If it weren’t for you, this whole planet would be an absolute ruin.”

“Craig, very soon I won’t be here. My time is running out. I don’t mean Exedor. Silence will fall when the question is asked. Don’t even know what the question is. I always knew I’d die still asking. Thing is, Craig, its tomorrow. Can’t put it off any more. Tomorrow is the day I…” The Doctor looked back and saw Craig and Alfie asleep. He stood up and covered them with a blanket.

The Doctor and Elise waited for the sun to rise before leaving Craig’s house. Elise had spent the night crying in her father’s arms as he tried to comfort her. She knew this moment was coming, but she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet.

“Safe mode. Clever me. Come along, bitey.”

They made their way to the department store.

“Morning!” Val greeted them.

“Morning. Teleport’s still fused. They didn’t repair it. So, the Cyberman last night. How did it get down here, how did it get out? And why, why, am I asking you?”

“You found the silver rat?”

“But where are the silver men?”

They went into the changing rooms.

“Secondary teleport. No, there is no other teleport. They must have had a back-up system. Something complicated, something powerful, something shielded. Something like a door? A door! A dyscillium-bonded steel door disguised as a wall.” The Doctor entered one of the changing cubicles and opened the door disguised as a mirror. “That is cheating. So, it didn’t teleport down, they climbed up.”

Elise was about to follow the Doctor into the tunnel when he stopped her. “Stay here.”

“But…”

He cupped her face. “Please.”

Blue stared into green until Elise finally agreed.

The Doctor kissed her forehead and stepped back into the tunnel.

Elise left the changing rooms and found Craig. “Craig?”

“Oh! Elise! Where’s the Doctor?”

Her silence told him everything.

“Oh god. He went off alone, didn’t he?” He handed Alfie to her. “I’ve got to help him!”

“I know. You’re a good friend, Craig Owens.”

Craig ran off, leaving Elise alone with Alfie.

“Hello, again Alfie.”

Alfie whined.

“I know you like being called Stormageddon, but I’m not calling you that.”

Alfie started wailing.

“Alfie, shhh. It’s okay. Daddy will be back soon.”

But Alfie kept crying.

Elise tried bouncing him. “Oh, um. What if I sing? Yeah. Why are there so many, songs about rainbows, and what’s on the other side…?”

Singing didn’t help either. If anything, it made Alfie cry even louder. Elise had no idea what to do.

The Doctor and Craig stepped out of the elevator.

Craig ran over to Elise, who handed Alfie over to him. Alfie gurgled.

“That was another review. Ten out of ten,” the Doctor told him.

“The Cybermen. They blew up. I blew them up with love.”

“No, that’s impossible. And also grossly sentimental and over simplistic. You destroyed them because of the deeply ingrained hereditary human trait to protect one’s own genes, which in turn triggered a…a…a. Yeah. Love. You blew them up with love.”

While Craig was distracted, Elise and the Doctor made their way back to Craig’s house to clean up.

Craig entered the kitchen as Elise and the Doctor were coming in from the backyard.

“See, I do come back,” the Doctor said.

“How did you…?” Craig asked.

“Time machine. But even with time travel, getting glaziers on a Sunday. Tricky.”

“You went back in time? That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?”

“What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? I couldn’t let that happen.”

“We made quite a mess. Sorry about that,” Elise told him.

“You used up your time for me?” Craig asked.

“Course I did. You’re me mate. I notice Stormageddon’s very quiet and happy.”

Alfie giggled.

“Oh, he prefers the name Alfie now. And he’s very proud of his dad.”

“He calls me dad?”

“Yes, of course he does now.”

Alfie gurgled.

“Yeah, I know. He’s a bit thick, isn’t he?”

Craig laughed. “Oi, shut up, you two.”

“Well, now it’s time. I have to go.”

“Doctor, I know that something’s wrong. I can help you.”

“Nobody can help me. I hope Sophie won’t mind. I need these.” The Doctor picked up TARDIS blue envelopes. Everything was coming full circle.

“Where are you going to go?” Craig asked.

“America,” the Doctor said.

“Utah to be exact,” Elise added.

“Sophie’ll be home any second. Are you sure…?” Craig asked.

“I can’t miss this appointment, Craig. Goodbye, mate.”

Elise kissed Alfie on the head. “Goodbye, Alfie. One day. One day I’ll come back and we’ll see the stars.”

“Wait there. One second.” Craig left and came back with a Stetson. “From Sean’s stag.”

“Wow.”

“You ride ‘em, partner.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Bye.”

There was a knock on the door.

Elise and the Doctor slipped out the back door and made their way to the TARDIS.

“Well then, old girl. One last trip, eh?” the Doctor asked.

Three stopped playing to watch Elise and the Doctor.

The Doctor approached the children. “Hey. I’m the Doctor. I was here to help. And you are very, very welcome.”

The Doctor and Elise entered the TARDIS and took off.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the series finale! I apologize if it seems a little weird. I wasn’t really sure how much Elise was involved in what happened. So just assume she knew the plan all along.

“The Seventh Transept, where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers. Watch your step. There are traps everywhere,” Gantok told them.

Elise grimaced.

They heard squeaking noises.

The Doctor groaned. “I hate rats.”

“There are no rats in the transept.”

“Oh, good.”

“The skulls eat them.”

“Oh how lovely,” Elise said, her tone laced with sarcasm.

The skulls on the shelves turned to look at them.

Elise jumped and pressed herself closer to the Doctor.

“The headless monks behead you alive, remember?” Gantok said.

“Why are some of them in boxes?” the Doctor asked.

Several boxes were perched on pillars.

“Because some people are rich, and some people are left to rot. And Dorium Maldovar was always very rich.”

The Doctor walked up to one of the boxes and soniced it open.

Dorium sneezed.

“Thank you for bringing us, Gantok,” the Doctor said.

“My pleasure. It saves me the trouble of burying you. Nobody beats me at chess.” Gantok pulled out his gun and approached the Doctor and Elise, but before he could reach them a trapdoor opened beneath him. He fell into a pit of skulls that ate him alive.

It took everything in Elise not to throw up in disgust.

“Gantok!” the Doctor yelled.

The skulls looked up at them.

The Doctor soniced the trap door closed as Dorium opened his eyes.

“Hello? Is someone there?” he asked.

Elise and the Doctor stepped into his field of vision.

“Ah, Doctor. Thank God it’s you. And my, my, Elise. You’ve grown up.”

Elise blushed at his implication.

“The Monks, they turned on me.”

“Well, I’m afraid they rather did, a bit,” the Doctor told him.

“Give it to me straight, Doctor. How bad are my injuries?”

“Well…” Dorium started laughing.

“Oh, your face! It’s not so bad, really, as long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the Wi-Fi down here is excellent, so I keep myself entertained.”

“I need to know about the Silence.”

“Oh. A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves.”

“And they want me dead.”

“No, not really. They just don’t want you to remain alive.”

“And there’s a difference?” Elise asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Oh, you’ve gotten sassy,” Dorium quipped.

Elise opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the Doctor.

“That’s okay, then. I was a bit worried for a minute there.”

“You’re a man with a long and dangerous past, but your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted.”

“You know, you could’ve told me all this the last time we met,” the Doctor snapped.

Dorium sighed. “It was a busy day and I got beheaded.”

“What’s so dangerous about my future?”

“On the Fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered.”

“What’s Trenzalore?” Elise asked as the Doctor flipped through a small notebook.

“Silence will fall when the question is asked,” the Doctor read off.

“Silence must fall would be a better translation,” Dorium told him, “The Silence are determined the question will never be answered. That the Doctor will never reach Trenzalore.”

But what was Trenzalore?

“I don’t understand. What’s it got to do with me?”

“The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

The atmosphere of the room changed as the skulls on the shelves turned to look at them.

“Very, very sure?” Dorium asked.

“Of course,” the Doctor said.

“Then I shall tell you. But on your own head be it.”

“It’s not my fault. Put me back!” Dorium yelled as they entered the TARDIS.

The Doctor set him down in the jump seat and ran to the console.

“Ow! I’ve fallen on my nose!”

He flipped a couple of levers and the TARDIS took off.

“Have you got wi-fi here? I’m bored already and my nose is hurting,” Dorium said, “We all have to die, Doctor, but you more than most. You do see that, don’t you? You know what the question is now. You do see that you have to die. Doctor. Please. Open my hatch. I’ve got an awful headache. Which to be honest means more than it used to.”

The Doctor opened the door to find Dorium upside down.

“It’s like some terrible weight pressing down on my…” Dorium opened his eyes. “Oh. I see.”

“Why Lake Silencio? Why Utah?”

“It’s a still point in time. Makes it easier to create a fixed point. And your death is a fixed point, Doctor. You can’t run away from this.”

“Been running all my life. Why should I stop?”

“Because now you know what’s at stake. Why your life must end.”

“Not today.”

The Doctor picked up the TARDIS phone and dialed a number.

“What’s the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?”

“Been knocking about. A bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see. There’s always more. I could invent a new color, save the Dodo, join the Beatles.”

The person on the side picked up.

“Hello, it’s me. Get him. Tell him, we’re going out and it’s all on me, except for the money and driving. I have got a time machine, Dorium. It’s all still going on. For me, it never stops. Liz the First is still waiting in a glade to elope with me. I could help Rose Tyler with her homework. I could go on all of Jack’s stag parties in one night!”

“Time catches up with us all, Doctor.”

“Well, it has never laid a glove on me! Hello?”

Elise watched her father’s face fall.

“Yes. Yes, I…”

“Doctor? What’s wrong?” Dorium asked.

“Nothing. Nothing. It’s just…” The Doctor hung up the phone and pulled out the TARDIS blue envelopes. His eyes met Elise’s as he said, “It’s time. It’s time.” The Doctor approached Elise, who was dangerously close to crying. “You know what to do.”

Elise nodded and threw her arms around the Doctor. “I love you,” Elise whispered.

The Doctor smiled through his own tears. “I love you too, my clever girl.” The Doctor pulled away from her and kissed her forehead.

After handing off the envelopes to the Teselecta, they headed off for Utah.

The Doctor left the TARDIS and Elise was alone. About 10 minutes later, the cloister bell started ringing.

“What’s going on?” Elise asked. She ran around the console, trying to take off but the TARDIS had locked the controls. “What are you doing? Why won’t you let me fly?”

Elise stepped back from the console as she felt a large disturbance in time. She was on her own without the Doctor for the first time and she had no idea what to do.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last chapter of “The Death of the Doctor”. Title and sneak peek at the next book to come!

“Where are they?” Elise asked River.

“They’ll be here any minute,” River assured her daughter.

Soon enough, Amy and the Doctor entered the room.

“Dad!” Elise yelled.

“Elise!”

Elise threw her arms around her father.

“How…how did you get here?”

“River found me. Trust me when I say I have never been happier to see you!”

The Doctor smiled. Elise let go of him and he turned to River. “Hi, honey. I’m home.”

River turned to face him. “And what sort of time do you call this?”

“The death of time. The end of time. The end of us all. Oh, why couldn’t you just die?” Madame Kovarian asked.

River grabbed Elise. “Behave, sweetie.”

The Doctor looked at the two woman.

“She keeps trying to kill her,” River explained.

“Did my best, dear,” the Doctor told Kovarian, “I showed up. You just can’t get the psychopaths these days. Love what you’ve done with the pyramids. How did you score all this?”

“Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover,” River told him.

“I always thought so.”

“She mentioned you.”

“What did she say?”

“Put down that gun.”

“Did you?”

“Eventually.”

“Oh, they’re flirting. Do I have to watch this?” Kovarian complained.

“It was such a basic mistake, wasn’t it, Madame Kovarian. Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor. Who else was I going to fall in love with?” River asked.

“It’s not funny, River. Reality is fatally compromised,” the Doctor told her, “Tell me you understand that.”

“Dinner?”

“I don’t have the time. Nobody has the time, because as long I’m alive, time is dying. Because of you, River.”

“Because I refused to kill the man I love.”

“Oh, you love me, do you? Oh, that’s sweet of you. Isn’t that sweet. Come here, you.” The Doctor rushed towards River.

“Get him!” Amy yelled.

Several soldiers grabbed the Doctor.

“Don’t hurt him! Please don’t hurt him!” Elise begged.

Amy wrapped an arm around the brunette.

“I’m not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch,” River told him.

The Doctor managed to grab River’s arm.

“Get off me. Get him off me!” River yelled.

“Doctor, no. Let go! Please Doctor, let go!” Amy yelled.

“It’s moving. Time’s moving!” a woman in a white coat told them.

“Get him off me! Doctor!” River yelled.

“I’m sorry, River. It’s the only way.” They started glowing as time sped up again.

River pulled away from him. “Cuff him.”

“Oh, why do you always have handcuffs? It’s the only way. We’re the opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch, we short out the differential. Time can begin again.”

“And I’ll be by a lakeside killing you.”

“And time won’t fall apart. The clocks will tick. Reality will continue. There isn’t another way.”

“I didn’t say there was, sweetie. There are so many theories about you and I, you know.”

“Idle gossip.”

“Archaeology.”

“Same thing.”

“Am I the woman who marries you, or the woman who murders you?”

The Doctor leaned in close to River’s face. “I don’t want to marry you.”

“I don’t want to murder you.”

Amy and Elise felt drops of water hit their heads.

“Doctor, what’s that?” Amy asked.

“The pyramid above us. How many Silence do you have trapped inside it?”

“None. They’re not trapped. They never have been. They’ve been waiting for this, Doctor. For you,” Kovarian told him.

Rory came running in. “They’re out! All of them. No one gets in here! Ma'am, my men out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered.”

“And you’re wearing eye drives based on mine, I think. Oops,” Kovarian said.

“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked.

Electricity surged through the eye drive that the woman in the white coat was wearing. She cried out in pain.

“Help her! Help her!” the Doctor yelled.

The soldiers around them starting yelling as they were electrocuted.

“She’s dead,” Amy told him.

The Doctor and Elise’s eye drives tried to shock them.

“Eye drives off now. Remove them,” the Doctor ordered.

Amy pulled the Doctor’s off. The Doctor turned around and pulled Elise’s off as Amy’s started to shock her.

“The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves”, Kovarian taunted as River tried to pull Amy’s off, “The effects will vary from person to person. Either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one.” Madame Kovarian’s eye drive started to shock her. “What are you doing? No, it’s me. Don’t be stupid. You need me. Stop it. Stop that!”

The Doctor turned to River. “We could stop this right now, you and I.”

“Get it off me!” Kovarian yelled.

“Amy, tell her!” the Doctor said.

“We’ve been working on something. Just let us show you,” she told him.

“There’s no point. There’s nothing you can do. My time is up.”

“We’re doing this for you!”

“Then people are dying for me. I won’t thank you for that, Amelia Pond.”

“Just let us show you,” River begged.

Elise stepped between the two women and the Doctor. “Please. Don’t leave me alone. It’s you and me, remember? No matter what,” she told him, “Do it for me.”

“Captain Williams, how long do we have?” Amy asked.

“Er, a couple of minutes,” Rory said.

“That’s enough. We’re going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid. I hope you’re ready for a climb,” River told the Doctor.

They made their way to the top of the pyramid, Amy and Rory following close behind. 

“What’s this? Oh, it’s as timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m in charge of the TARDIS. I understand the physics. Elise helped of course too,” River explained.

“But that’s all you’ve got, a distress beacon.”

“I’ve been sending out a message. A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I’ve sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. The Doctor is dying. Please, please help.”

“River! River, this is ridiculous! That would mean nothing to anyone. It’s insane! Worse, it’s stupid! You embarrass me!”

“We’re just trying to help you!” Elise yelled at him.

Amy and Rory joined them.

“We barricaded the door. We’ve got a few minutes. Just tell him. Just tell him, River!” Amy said.

“Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They’re wrong. There aren’t any. It’s not the sun, it’s you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes, of course we’ll help. You’ve touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you’d really have to do more than just ask? You’ve decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn’t agree.”

“River, no one can help me. A fixed point has been altered. Time is disintegrating.”

“I can’t let you die.”

“But I have to die!”

“Shut up! I can’t let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much, and by no one more than me and our daughter.”

“River, you and I, we know what this means. We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die.”

“I’ll suffer if I have to kill you.”

“More than every living thing in the universe?”

“Yes,” Elise and River spoke in unison.

“River, River, why do you have to be this? Melody Pond, your daughter. I hope you’re both proud. And Elise! You should want to save the universe!”

“The universe is nothing without you in it!” Elise told him.

“I’m not sure I completely understand,” Rory said.

“We got married and had a kid and that’s her,” Amy explained.

“Okay.”

“Amy, uncuff me now.”

Amy walked over and took the handcuffs off.

“Okay, I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do. Never mind.” The Doctor took off his bowtie. “River, take one end of this. Wrap it around your hand, and hold it out to me.”

“What am I doing?” she asked, doing as he said.

“As you’re told. Now, we’re in the middle of a combat zone, so we’ll have to do the quick version. Captain Williams, say I consent and gladly give.”

“To what?” Rory asked.

“Just say it! Please.”

“I consent and gladly give.”

The Doctor looked at Amy. “Need you to say it too, mother of the bride.”

Oh my god! They were getting married!

“I consent and gladly give,” Amy said.

The Doctor looked at Elise. “And now you.”

“Wait. What?” Elise asked.

The Doctor smiled softly and said, “I’ll only marry River if you want me to.”

Elise looked at River. The woman who had been influential in raising her. “I consent and gladly give,” she said.

“Now River, I’m about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one what I said.” He leaned in and whispered something to her. “I just told you my name. Now, there you go, River Song. Melody Pond. You’re the woman who married me. And wife, I have a request. This world is dying and it’s my fault, and I can’t bear it another day. Please, help me. There isn’t another way.”

“Then you may kiss the bride,” River said.

“I’ll make it a good one.”

“You’d better.”

The two kissed and reality changed around them.

Elise opened her eyes and she was back on the TARDIS. It was quiet.

Did it work?

Dorium’s door was shut and he was quiet. Maybe he was sleeping.

The door to the TARDIS opened and the Doctor entered.

Elise ran towards him and threw her arms around him.

He put a finger on his lips, signaling her to be quiet. He ran to the console and they took off to return Dorium’s head.

“Who’s carrying me?” Dorium asked as they entered the Seventh Transept, “I demand to know. I’m a head, I have rights. I want my doors open this time. I demand that my doors are open!”

The Doctor opened his door and turned to leave.

“Is it you? It is, isn’t it. It is you, I can sense it. But how did you do it? How could you possibly have escaped?”

The Doctor and Elise shed their cloaks.

“The Teselecta. A Doctor in a Doctor suit. Time said I had to be on that beach, so I dressed for the occasion. Barely got singed in that boat,” the Doctor explained.

“So you’re going to do this? Let them all think you’re dead?”

“It’s the only way, then they can all forget me. I got too big, Dorium. Too noisy. Time to step back into the shadows.”

“And Doctor Song, in prison all her days?”

“Her days, yes. Her nights? Well, that’s between her, me, and Elise, eh?”

“So many secrets, Doctor. I’ll help you keep them, of course.”

“Well, you’re not exactly going anywhere, are you?”

“But you’re a fool nonetheless. It’s all still waiting for you. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the question.”

“Goodbye, Dorium.”

“The first question. The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you’ve been running from all your life! Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor Who?”

Elise and the Doctor entered the TARDIS.

“So, any questions?” he asked Elise.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Fire away.”

“Who’s Rose Tyler? You mentioned her earlier and I just thought…” Elise asked, “Was she the blonde?”

That wasn’t the question he’d been expecting.

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Elise, please.”

“I just want to…”

“Stop asking!” Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw Elise flinch. He sighed and walked over to her. “I’m sorry for yelling. Just…I don’t like to talk about her.”

“Did…did you love her?”

The Doctor didn’t answer. He simply placed his hand on the back of her head and kissed her forehead.


	37. TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT AND SNEAK PEEK

The title of the next book will be... "The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh"

Summary

Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is. (Will include 50th Anniversary Special “The Day of the Doctor”)

Guys, I am so excited to share this with you! You have no idea what’s in store for our favorite Timelord duo!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
And as promised, a little sneak peek.

A gunshot went off and the Doctor spun around. Elise was holding a gun and it was pointed at him.

His mind briefly flashed to a time, hundreds of years ago on an alien planet, where their positions had been switched. “Elise, what are you doing?” he asked her. He took a step towards her and she cocked the gun.

“Let him come back over the line. Now!”

“Elise, just put the gun down.”

“Let him come back over the line and I will.”

“You wouldn’t shoot me.”

She fired a shot an inch from his foot and cocked the gun again. Her hand was steady and not shaking. Although he often teased her about it, Elise truly was River’s daughter. “Try me,” she said.

“Elise…”

“Let him come back over the line!”

“Elise, there’s a better way to do this,” Rory told her.

“No! If he’s gonna behave like this, why can’t I? I’m not a child anymore! And I am through with not being taken seriously!”

The Doctor recognized the dark look in her eyes. It was one his enemies had seen countless times in his own. In addition to being his daughter, she’d become a tiny Oncoming Storm.

Had he done this to her? Had his darkness seeped into her pure soul? He’d seen it once before. Was this when it had started?

His eyes met Amy’s and she subtly nodded. She rushed forward and grabbed Elise’s hand, aiming the gun at the sky as another shot was fired.

“Get off me!” Elise yelled.

The Doctor touched her temple and Elise went limp in the redhead’s arms.

Amy passed her off to Rory, who scooped the brunette up in his arms.


	38. NEW STORY UP!

The next book is now up! I hope you enjoy the ride!


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